beatles back catalogue

[winding hill]

is it true that the beatles back catalogue will revert back to paul mccartney in the next few years and if so how is that possible if sony now own the rights

[Mikeyd2]

Reading the paper today about Paul McCartney's woes at the moment, it said that he only owns 1 or 2 Beatle songs (plus Wings etc of course) and Michael Jackson bought the rest of the catalogue a few years ago , outbidding PM. He (MJ) then had to sell some to Sony to pay off some of his massive debts (alledgedly).

It say anything about them reverting back to Paul Mc . But it's a legal minefield with all this stuff.

[WoWo]

It's not as straight forward as that. A record attracts royalties on a number of levels, the publishing rights to the Beatles catalogue are indead owned by Sony but were part of the deal Jackson signed when he went with sony for $10 million.

However McCartney gets writers royalty and also performers royalty on all Beatles recordings and also writers royalty on cover versions.

As far as I know he won't ever get control of the publishing rights and if anything the music will be out of copyright in a few years and therefore people can copy and distribute it willy nilly.

[winding hill]

since my original posting and some internet research i came across this comment from PM i love to take a look at that contract!!!

Paul McCartney has denied that intends to by back rights to The Beatles' catalogue from Michael Jackson.

Jackson owns the rights to much of the Lennon and McCartney Beatles catalogue and it has been suggested due to rumoured financial troubles he might put them up for sale, with McCartney being a potential buyer.

However McCartney has stated he will not be purchasing them, as the original agreement that sold the rights is nearly up, reports told Ireland Online.

�The interesting thing is, there are actually things in the whole deal that actually revert to me anyway,� said the former Beatle. "There are years approaching, there are dates approaching, that we never thought would approach, where things revert to me. So really, it's a waiting game rather than a big proactive buying game.�

He added: �(That) suits my personality: just hang on, be patient, it's cool. Don't get your knickers in a twist."