McCartney sues Sony for rights to Beatles songs

Paul McCartney has filed suit in New York against Sony/ATV and is looking to get a declaratory judgment that states he will soon regain his copyright ownership share to a treasured catalog of songs created as a member of The Beatles.

In what could become one of the most important legal battles in the music industry this decade, he is looking to leverage the termination provisions of the Copyright Act.

In 1976, Congress increased the period that works are under copyright protection, and in recognition of authors who had signed over their rights to publishers and studios without much bargaining power, allowed such authors 35 years hence to reclaim rights in the latter stages of a copyright term. Artistes such as Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Prince have used the mere threat of termination to negotiate new deals and better compensation arrangements.

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.