LONDON (Bloomberg) — EMI Group, the world’s third-largest music label, settled a royalties dispute with the Beatles’ Apple Corps Limited, in an agreement analysts said may lead to the band’s catalogue becoming available online.“We settled last month on mutually acceptable terms,” Amanda Conroy, a spokeswoman for London-based EMI, said today in an interview.

A spokeswoman for Apple Corps also said a settlement had been reached. Apple is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison.

In August, New York State Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz denied EMI’s request to dismiss a breach-of-contract suit that sought at least $25 million in royalties.

The 2005 complaint also sought to reclaim rights to all the master recordings by the defunct British rock band, Paul LiCalsi, the lawyer representing the Beatles, said in an interview in August.

EMI has the rights to distribute the Beatles’ recordings on CDs and other physical formats.

Apple hasn’t yet granted digital rights to their songs. Speculation about the music being made available in digital form has risen since Apple ended decades of litigation with Apple Inc., maker of the iPod music and video player, over use of the Apple name.

“It’s a pretty significant deal,” said Patrick Yau, an analyst at Bridgewell Securities.

“An online agreement should follow fairly quickly. It’s something the market has expected for a while — ever since the Beatles and Apple Inc. got past their trademark issues. It will be a positive boost for EMI.”

Apple Inc. ended a legal dispute with the Beatles over rights to use the Apple name and logos in February, potentially clearing the way for the company to distribute the group’s music through its iTunes online store.

Under a new agreement, Apple Inc. owns all trademarks related to “Apple” and will license some rights back to the Beatles’ Apple Corps for its continued use, the companies said on February 5. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The settlement ends decades of litigation and may help Apple Inc. chief executive officer Steve Jobs realise his goal of distributing the Beatles catalogue, including hits such as “Let It Be,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Yesterday.”

ITunes is the most popular site for legal digital downloads and the addition of songs by the Beatles may help draw even more music fans to the site.

The Beatles led the “British invasion” of US music charts in the 1960s and disbanded in April 1970.

The settlement was reported earlier today by the London-based Daily Telegraph newspaper.