Reply #42: McCartney tried to buy the rights with Yoko back in the early-mid '80s

[LTR]

He likely could have bought the whole thing outright, and his own publishing company, MPL, owns a ton of copyrights (Buddy Holly's catalog, musicals such as "A Chorus Line" and "Grease", etc.). Song publishing made more money for McCartney than the Beatles ever did. He wanted Yoko involved in the purchase, as her husband John shared credit on most of ATV/Northern Songs' content.

But Yoko balked, and all of a sudden, Jackson surprisingly struck a deal to buy ATV. Needless to say, relations between the two got quite chilly after that.