Paul McCartney Sues Sony to Regain Rights to Beatles Songs; Hollywood Reporter, 1/18/17

Eriq Gardner, Hollywood Reporter; Paul McCartney Sues Sony to Regain 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, the iconic songwriter 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."

BlueBeat Beatles tracks gone for good after judge's beatdown; Ars Technica, 11/19/09

Nate Anderson, Ars Technica; BlueBeat Beatles tracks gone for good after judge's beatdown:

Who needs hearings? A federal judge has read enough to extend his injunction against BlueBeat.com, a site selling Beatles tracks online for a quarter each. And he has little time for the "vague" explanations of "pyscho-acoustic simulation" provided by BlueBeat's founder.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/bluebeat-beatles-tracks-gone-for-good-after-judges-beatdown.ars

K.K.R. and Bertelsmann May Make Sweet Music; New York Times, 7/9/09

New York Times; K.K.R. and Bertelsmann May Make Sweet Music:

"The fund run by Henry Kravis is teaming with the German media group Bertelsmann to pounce on some of the choicest bits of the music business — copyrights to songs.

Given the turbulence in the recorded music sector, and the ownership of libraries like Michael Jackson’s up in the air, they’ll likely have a wealth of assets from which to choose, the publication suggests.

Widespread digital distribution of music has hampered the ability of companies like Warner Music Group and EMI to make money from their traditional activity of finding new artists and marketing their tunes. Yet, their copyright businesses continue to produce profit, Breakingviews notes. In the quarter that ended in March, Warner’s publishing division posted 40 percent operating margins, four times those of its recorded music division."

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/kkr-and-bertelsmann-may-make-sweet-music-together/?scp=1&sq=copyright%20emi&st=cse