McCartney will get the Beatles catalogue back
Paul McCartney is to win back the rights to his tracks owned by Michael Jackson.
The Beatles frontman fell out with the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker after he lost ownership of his songs over 30 years ago, but under the 1976 US Copyright Act, any content penned before 1978 becomes the property of the songwriter after 56 years.
The 71-year-old singer - who is worth more than £485m (€566m) - will be able to collect royalties and licensing money in five years' time and then he’ll be able to pull in more songs each year, meaning that he’ll regain the majority of the band’s back catalogue by 2026.
McCartney – who teamed up with the ‘King of Pop’ in 1983 for hit ‘Say Say Say’ – ended his friendship with Michael after he outbid him in a Sony records deal and bought the band’s music content for £31m.
An insider told The Sun newspaper: “Paul’s been fuming for decades. It’s as much personal as business. Now he’ll get back what’s rightfully his.”
McCartney previously admitted he can sometimes lose his way on stage and forgets to concentrate because he gets too involved in the music.
He told Q magazine: "It's scary, because sometimes I suddenly wake up in the middle of a show and think, 'Concentrate man! Come on, you've got an audience here!'.”
