Triple J and Vancouver's XFM play leaked Hail to the Thief songs

Triple J, the ABC's youth network in Australia, had played three songs from the leaked Hail to the Thief by Monday morning, hours after all 14 tracks turned up online, and the Sydney Morning Herald believes it was the first station in the world to do it. A member of staff downloaded them. Arnold Frolows, the station's music director, called EMI before they went out.

And so I rang EMI and explained to them that we just had to do it. It was just such a magic musical moment, this is a special album.

Arnold Frolows²

EMI told him the station was infringing copyright and could short-change the band by hurting sales. Security around the album had been tight enough that the only copy in Australia sat in the office of John O'Donnell, EMI's managing director there, and the media were not to get the CD until release day on 9 June. Even so, O'Donnell says the label will not act against Triple J, which he calls Radiohead's traditional home, and will not bring the release forward; it is working through the websites instead, asking them to take the files down. Frolows says it was a one-off and Triple J will play no more.

In Vancouver, 104.9 XFM got a letter. Pat Cardinal, its station manager and programme director, says XFM downloaded the whole album and aired it, and he has posted EMI Music Canada's cease and desist order on the station's website. Cardinal, whose station has aired unauthorised tracks by plenty of other artists, reckons any attention is worth the legal risk when radio is competing with fans who swap music free online.

This stuff isn't supposed to be released for three months but it's all over the Internet and we can't ignore it.

Pat Cardinal³