Sir Paul to Get Song Rights

Whenever the estate of pop star Michael JacksonMichael Jackson is mentioned so is the 50% holdings the singer held in the Sony/ATV Music catalogue. Among the songs in that catalogue are some 250 songs penned by former Beatles Sir Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney and John Lennon. That catalog has reportedly been valued at $500 million. However, according to US copyright laws Sir Paul will be able to obtain the publishing rights in the coming years.

Sir Paul and Lennon lost the publishing rights to the Beatles catalog when the company was sold and over the years has passed through a number of hands until Jackson and Sony brokered a deal in 1995.

A United States copyright law in 1976 allowed for songwriters to obtain the publishing rights of songs that were written before 1978 after a 56 year period. Which means the songs McCarntey and Lennon wrote in 1962 will be eligible for return to Sir Paul in 2018. Songs written in later years will return to McCartney as the songs reach the 56 year term limit. In the case of the death of the songwriter the family may obtain the song rights after 28 years. In the case of John Lennon Sony/ATV made a deal with Yoko OnoYoko Ono that allows for Sony/ATV to retain the rights to the songs for the length of the copyright which in the US is the life of the songwriter plus 75 years.