Yahoo News Sir Paul McCartney sues Sony Music over ownership of Beatles songs
Sir Paul McCartney is taking legal action against Sony Music over control of The Beatles' back catalogue.
The British musician has filed a lawsuit in federal court this week, seeking to regain the ownership of a number of songs that he wrote with John Lennon.
Songs including Love Me Do, All You Need Is Love and I Want To Hold Your Hand were bought by Michael Jackson for $41.5 million back in 1985, when he outbid McCartney.
The late singer’s estate then sold the collection to Sony/ATV Music Publishing for £750 million last year, but McCartney insists that he will legally reacquire the songs in 2018.
According to the US 1976 Copyright Act, copyright termination means that authors can regain ownership of their work after a certain length of time.
As a number of the Beatles songs in question were written back in 1962, they will be eligible for copyright termination next year.
McCartney’s spokesperson told Pitchfork: “Paul McCartney has today filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Sony/ATV to confirm his ownership in his US reversionary copyrights, which are granted to him by US copyright law, in the songs he wrote with John Lennon and recorded with The Beatles.
Sony/ATV said "We have collaborated closely with both Sir Paul and the late John Lennon's Estate for decades to protect, preserve and promote the catalog's long-term value,", adding that it was "disappointed" over the filing of the lawsuit which it said is "both unnecessary and premature."
Read more
“The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and bears the case no. 17cv363.”
A number of stars including Prince and Debbie Harry have used the US 1976 Copyright Act to regain control of their material in the past.
