Sir Paul McCartney has filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV in order to reclaim the publishing rights of the Beatles songs some of which include the classics ‘I want to hold your hand’ and ‘Love Me Do’.
A spokesperson for McCartney said in a statement to 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’.
The catalogue was bought by Micheal Jackson back in 1985 and was then sold to Sony following his sudden death back in 2009.
McCartney can reclaim the rights of the songs from 2018 under the US copyright law. The first song that he can claim back is ‘Love Me Do’.
Speaking to the Rolling stones Sony feel that the lawsuit filed by the musician is “both unnecessary and premature”.
Photo Cred: darioferrini
