Another contribution of Bhavini Mistry.
Earlier this year, Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles filed a copyright lawsuit against famous music publishing company, Sony/ATV, in order to regain possession of his own songs. This is a complicated legal battle that has been occurring since the late 1960s.
In the 1960s the original publishing owner of the songs was Northern Songs but was then sold to ATV. When their music was transferred to ATV, Both Paul McCartney and John Lennon released their stakes on their music. In 1985, ATV’s music catalog was put up for sale and was bought by Michael Jackson. Ten years later, Jackson sold half of ATV to Sony in which it became a joint company between Jackson and Sony. Moreover, in 2016, 7 years after Michael Jackson’s death, Sony bought Jackson’s estate becoming the sole owner of Lennon and McCartney’s songs.
In terms of this lawsuit, Paul McCartney’s is based on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 which, “allowed songwriters to retain the publishers’ share of their copyrighted works released before 1978 after a 56-year period”. So, for the older Beatles songs, that period would end in 2018 and the other songs by 2026. In regards to Lennon’s rights according to the Copyright Act of 1976, despite his passing in 1980, the act states, “if the songwriter were to die within the first 28-year period, the write’s heirs would be eligible to recapture that publishing share at the end of that first period”, which in the Beatles’ case would be 1990.
Although, before the first period was terminated, Sony made a deal with Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, to regain ownership of Lennon’s share of the music. American law favors the copyright ownership of the writer which is why McCartney chose U.S attorneys to help him gain his music back through this lawsuit.
This copyright law is not universal and the terms in the United Kingdom are different, where English (British) law can prevent musicians from using the U.S Copyright law and therefore, favors the publisher companies in these types of cases. Although McCartney and Sony have reached a settlement, the details have not been released to the public.. If you remember, the recording company that was originally the publisher of the Beatles’ songs was called Apple Music. That is a story for another day, yes Apple and the Beatles had their legal squabbles, and this shows that Paul McCartney will have a second bite to the apple.
Earlier this year, Sir Paul McCartney from The Beatles filed a copyright lawsuit against famous music publishing company, Sony/ATV, in order to regain possession of his own songs. This is a complicated legal battle that has been occurring since the late 1960s.
In the 1960s the original publishing owner of the songs was Northern Songs but was then sold to ATV. When their music was transferred to ATV, Both Paul McCartney and John Lennon released their stakes on their music. In 1985, ATV’s music catalog was put up for sale and was bought by Michael Jackson. Ten years later, Jackson sold half of ATV to Sony in which it became a joint company between Jackson and Sony. Moreover, in 2016, 7 years after Michael Jackson’s death, Sony bought Jackson’s estate becoming the sole owner of Lennon and McCartney’s songs.
In terms of this lawsuit, Paul McCartney’s is based on the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 which, “allowed songwriters to retain the publishers’ share of their copyrighted works released before 1978 after a 56-year period”. So, for the older Beatles songs, that period would end in 2018 and the other songs by 2026. In regards to Lennon’s rights according to the Copyright Act of 1976, despite his passing in 1980, the act states, “if the songwriter were to die within the first 28-year period, the write’s heirs would be eligible to recapture that publishing share at the end of that first period”, which in the Beatles’ case would be 1990.
Although, before the first period was terminated, Sony made a deal with Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, to regain ownership of Lennon’s share of the music. American law favors the copyright ownership of the writer which is why McCartney chose U.S attorneys to help him gain his music back through this lawsuit.
This copyright law is not universal and the terms in the United Kingdom are different, where English (British) law can prevent musicians from using the U.S Copyright law and therefore, favors the publisher companies in these types of cases. Although McCartney and Sony have reached a settlement, the details have not been released to the public.. If you remember, the recording company that was originally the publisher of the Beatles’ songs was called Apple Music. That is a story for another day, yes Apple and the Beatles had their legal squabbles, and this shows that Paul McCartney will have a second bite to the apple.