One of the great thrills of collecting music is getting a hold of some previously unreleased material by a favorite artist. And thanks to a revision in European law, Bob Dylan, the Beatles and other classic rock artists have been put in a position where they have to open their vaults to the public.

In 2012, the European Union extended copyrights on recordings from 50 to 70 years. However, the law came with a provision that copyrighted material had to be released within 50 years or else the songs would enter the public domain. Last year, Dylan and the Beatles, without much publicity, put out collections in order to retain their copyrights.

And they're about to do it again. The New York Times reported that Dylan is expected to drop a nine-disc set of rare material from 1964. This is believed to include television performances, outtakes from 'Another Side of Bob Dylan' and three sides worth of home recordings he did with Eric Von Schmidt, another member of the New York folk scene.

The Beatles have yet to announce if they will do anything special but, last week, the Beach Boys dropped a pair of albums. 'Keep an Eye on Summer: The Beach Boys Sessions 1964' is comprised of outtakes, alternate mixes and BBC recordings, while 'The Beach Boys Live in Sacramento 1964' contains two concerts.

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