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Paul McCartney has begun legal proceedings that will allow him to claim the ownership of some of The Beatles’ catalogue in the US, after the rights to the tracks were sold to Michael Jackson three decades ago.
The original songwriters, Lennon and McCartney, will qualify to claim the ownership of parts of their own catalogue in January 2018. Yoko Ono previously sealed a deal with Sony that gives the company ownership of Lennon’s half of the song rights. McCartney has now set the process for reclaiming his in motion.
According to Billboard, McCartney began the process for reclaiming the rights in December, "the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 gave songwriters the ability to recapture the publishers’ share of their songs, and in the case of titles written before 1978, writers can recapture songs after two consecutive 28-year terms, or 56 years. (That legislation allows for writers of songs issued in or after 1978 to recapture their publishing after 35 years). The Lennon-McCartney catalogue begins hitting the 56-year mark in 2018."
McCartney is reclaiming the rights to his share of 32 songs in the US, but the laws will not apply to his share of the rights in other parts of the world. Other tracks will not be eligible for claim until 2025. Artists can make the claim between two and ten years ahead of the 56-year limit.
Although all Beatles songs are credited to McCartney and Lennon, several of the songs were Lennon solo compositions. McCartney’s claim to half of the rights will nonetheless include some of these songs.
Tracks subject to the claim include large parts of the Abbey Road album as well as some tracks from albums that were released between 1962 and 1964.
Recently, the former Beatle announced a tour that promised ‘no shortage of surprises’.
