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19 January 2017Copyright

Paul McCartney files copyright suit against Sony/ATV Publishing

Singer-songwriter Sir Paul McCartney has filed a copyright infringement suit against Sony/ATV Publishing.

McCartney, who was in rock band The Beatles, filed his lawsuit at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday, January 18.

The singer asked for a declaratory judgment of no breach of contract over copyright for songs by The Beatles.

The case concerns tracks jointly composed by McCartney and the late John Lennon from 1962 to 1971.

During that time, McCartney and Lennon assigned their copyright to music publishers. Sony/ATV Publishing acquired copyright from two of the publishers involved.

In 1962, The Beatles released two singles, “Love Me Do” and “PS I Love You”, which were written by McCartney and Lennon.

McCartney’s suit concerns his right to terminate the copyright interests he transferred between 1962 and 1971 to the music publishers.

In 2008, McCartney asked the US Copyright Office for termination notices to reclaim his copyright for songs such as “Love Me Do”, “PS I Love You” and “All You Need Is Love”.

According to the suit, the defendants “refused to acknowledge” McCartney’s termination notices and have “attempted to reserve their rights to challenge” his termination rights.

McCartney asked for costs, fees, attorneys’ fees, further relief the court deems just and proper, and a jury trial.

Robert Lundie Smith, partner at intellectual property law firm, EIP, said: “Since 2013, artists have under US law the right to regain copyrights assigned by them 35 years previously (so long as that assignment took place after 1978).”

Lundie Smith added that as McCartney’s eligible works are available in 2018, he sought to take a pre-emptive strike to find out whether any of his contractual engagements will preclude him from relying upon this law.

A spokesperson for McCartney told WIPR: “Paul McCartney has today filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Sony/ATV to confirm his ownership in his US reversionary copyrights, which are granted to him by US copyright law, in the songs he wrote with John Lennon and recorded with The Beatles.”

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