Today, Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV to regain the rights to the classics he wrote as a member of The Beatles. McCartney hopes to get a declaratory judgment that states he will soon regain his copyright ownership share to the iconic Beatles catalogue.
The star is hoping to confirm the reclaim of ownership of songs he wrote while a member of the band in a case that recalls a similar battle faced by Duran Duran in 2016.
A complaint filed in New York details McCartney transferring rights of songs he wrote with John Lennon to various music publishers throughout the 1960s. In the 1980s, Michael Jackson bought the rights to many of these songs, including “Hey Jude” and “Let It Be”. The singer then bought shares in Sony/ATV and after his death, and his estate sold them back for $750m. This bundle included a large selection of treasured Beatles tracks.
With the high profile and widespread attachment to the parties and the music in question and the precedents that the results of the suit will set, this could turn into a landmark case in the music industry.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
[cover photo via Rolling Stone]
