Paul McCartney sues Sony for the rights to Beatles songs he wrote with John Lennon

Paul McCartney has filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV Music Publishing in hopes of winning back the copyrights to a host of songs he wrote with John Lennon. 

McCartney filed the suit in federal court in New York on Wednesday, seeking to gain ownership of the copyrights in 2018, according to court documents.  

Michael Jackson famously bought ATV's back catalog in 1985, which includes more than 200 Beatles tracks, before they were sold back to Sony by Jackson's debt-ridden estate after his death.

Both McCartney and Lennon lost out to ATV, which purchased their original publishers, Northern Songs, in 1969.

When McCartney explained the significance of music publishing to Jackson years later, the King of Pop took note and purchased the back catalog to ATV Music in 1985.

Jackson obtained more than 200 Beatles songs from the publisher, which collects and distributes royalties to songwriters, in a move that left McCartney feeling betrayed, Billboard reported. 


Jackson's ownership returned to Sony in September 2016, after his debt-ridden estate sold off the King of Pop's stake in the music publishing company for $750million.

Now, McCartney is hoping to regain the rights to his songs under the US Copyright Act of 1976 - which allows songs written before 1978 to return under the songwriter's property after a period of 56 years.

Songs in the Lennon-McCartney catalog, composed between September 1962 and June 1971, will start hitting their 56-year mark in 2018.

McCartney, eager to obtain the copyrights, started sending notices to Sony/ATV in 2008, stating his desire to reclaim the copyrights to songs including Across the Universe, Love Me Do, and I Want to Hold Your Hand, the suit said.

McCartney's lawyers have repeatedly asked Sony/ATV to acknowledge the musician's rights to terminate copyright transfers of the music, and the company has declined to do so, the suit said.