Sir Paul McCartney is suing Sony over the ownership of several Beatles songs.
The 74-year-old musician gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, alongside John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, and is now taking legal action against the multinational conglomerate in a bid to win back the rights to several of the songs he wrote.
The songs – which, according to TMZ.com include the hits ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, ‘Love Me Do’, and ‘All You Need Is Love’ – were famously bought by the late Michael Jackson when he forked out $41.5 million for them in 1985.
Last year, the Jackson Estate sold its stake in the collection – known as The Beatles ATV Music catalogue – to Sony and ATV Music Publishing for a whopping $750 million.
Paul will legally reacquire the rights to the tracks in 2018, but the legal action comes after it was reported that Sony had not confirmed whether they intend to surrender the rights without dispute.
In a statement obtained by Pitchfork magazine, a spokesperson for Paul said: "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. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and bears the case no. 17cv363."
Full details of the conditions of Paul’s lawsuit are not yet known.
Sir Paul McCartney suing Sony over Beatles ownership
