Paul McCartney has filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV; hoping to regain his copyright ownership share to songs created as a member of The Beatles.
McCartney and his team are citing the United States Copyright act that allows authors and co-authors to reclaim the copyrights in their works after a set period of time, provided that they serve termination notices on the current rights holder.
According to McCartney’s complaint, he transferred rights to songs co-authored by him and John Lennon between 1962 and 1971 to various music publishers.
In a statement Sony/ATV says they have the highest respect for Sir Paul McCartney but are disappointed that they have filed the lawsuit which they believe is both unnecessary and premature.
Sony/ATV currently holds copyrights to McCartney/Lennon works composed between September 1962 and June 1971 and McCartney sent notices to the music publisher in 2008 stating his desire to reclaim the copyrights to numerous songs.
