The maker of Scotch-brand tape was sued by a competitor who accused 3M (nyse: MMM - news - people ) of using price rebates to break into the market for private-label tape.
Filmmaker David Lynch was asked to provide visuals inspired by the tunes, but by the time he was done, the album was tied up in major-label red tape and its release was uncertain.
After fruitless attempts to make contact with chief executive of the band's record label Apple, Neil Aspinall, the family decided to auction the tape at Christies in London.
Unfortunately Get On Down stopped selling The Purple Tape box-set just two days after it went on sale, though the label will try to release some more copies in the next few weeks.