Paul McCartney and Sony Settle Beatles Rights Dispute
By Sheldon Pearce, Evan Minsker.
Earlier this year, Paul McCartney sued Sony/ATV Music Publishing, claiming copyright ownership of multiple Beatles songs. McCartney claimed that he is set to reacquire the songs in 2018, but that Sony had not confirmed that it would transfer the song copyrights without a legal dispute. The copyrights were previously held by Michael Jackson until his estate sold its stake in Sony. Now, McCartney and Sony have settled, THR reports. “The parties have resolved this matter by entering into a confidential settlement agreement and jointly request that the Court enter the enclosed proposed order dismissing the above-referenced action without prejudice,” wrote McCartney’s attorney Michael Jacobs in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos. The details of the settlement are unknown.
In March, Sony/ATV claimed that McCartney’s claim was “unripe” and argued that the matter should be settled in a UK court. “As an initial matter, SATV has made no statement challenging the validity of Plaintiff’s termination notices,” Sony stated in a letter addressing the New York federal court that was penned in March. “Indeed, it has acknowledged they are valid, so there is no controversy regarding this issue... Here, Plaintiff is a U.K. citizen and the Grants were negotiated and entered into in the U.K. with U.K. companies with respect to songs presumably written in the U.K. in return for payment in the U.K.”
Later, McCartney accused Sony of devaluing the rights to his songs by holding back on any confirmation. “By seeking to dismiss this lawsuit, Sony/ATV intends to leave McCartney in suspense,” Jacobs wrote. “Delay would not simplify the parties' dispute, but it would prejudice McCartney. As long as Sony/ATV refuses to disavow any right to sue for breach of contract, McCartney has a cloud over the title to his works, which devalues his rights.”
This story originally appeared on Pitchfork.
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