About those Beatles songs

[question everything]

There was a report that Paul McCartney and Jackson performed together for a while, but then both were trying to bid on the Beatles songs and Jackson won, supposedly he knew how much McCartney was going to bid and outbid him.

And then, the bitterness expressed by McCartney saying that whenever he would sing his own songs, he would had to pay royalty to someone else.

What I don't understand: why were the songs not the property of the Beatles themselves? Who was the one who auctioned them to the highest bidder?

[rurallib]

1. I am betting google is your friend here.

[charlie]

2. Story here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Songs#Publishing_rights

[question everything]

6. Thanks. Sad how creative people often end up

with "managers" where the interests of the artists get very low priority.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Read up on

the history of the Beatles' management, and see what their contracts said.

It's a hell of a story. Almost unbelievable, but you'll see how MJ and Sony ended up owning the Beatles catalog.............

[depakid]

4. Sony's going to own 'em now....

[aaaaaa5a]

5. Here's your info!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Paul+McCartney+beatles+song+rights

[question everything]

10. Thanks, that's a nest trick that someday I will have to learn

Conflicting reports, though, of whether Sony or McCartney will get them..

[aaaaaa5a]

12. No problem, it's real easy.

I only know about it because it was done to me on a football message board one day.

I was worried about using it because it's a bit "rude and inconsiderate"

Thanks for being a sport!


BTW... I had the same question!

[onehandle]

7. In a nutshell...

The Beatles were originally making tons of money off of their music, but they were losing 90% of the profits to taxes.

They basically divided the ownership between several of their business partners and put the rest out as public stock to save on taxes.

The stock changed hands over time and eventually Jackson bought 50%. Now Sony owns that 50%.

The Beatles (mostly Paul and Yoko) own the other 50%.

[Deja Q]

8. Some recording company ultimately owned the rights; the Beatles giving them up in the first place.

Just a guess... McCartney shouldn't have sold his works.

I'm going to see what the truth is, but many artists do sign away a lot when working with label companies. They enslave themselves, in a way.

Besides, McCartney's antics of the last few years... :nopity: I'm technically apathetic.

[Bluzmann57]

9. Music biz is full of treachery

Mr. John Fogerty, who wrote or co-wrote almost all CCR songs couldn't perform them for a long time. McCartney owns, or at least did, the rights to almost every college fight song out there. Robert Plant blatantly ripped off a tune of Bessie Smith and anytime anyone sings "When the Levee Breaks" they are paying Plant instead of the rightful owners. Music is a tough business. This is why I admire bands like ZZ Top. They give credit where it's due and pay royalties where they are due.

[charlie]

11. I take your point

But Zep actually did the right thing (somewhat) for once with When the Levee Breaks -- Memphis Minnie is listed as a coauthor.

[Bluzmann57]

13. Finally

Led Zep is one of my all time favorite bands. But Robert Plant is still getting paid whenever someone sings "When the Levee Breaks". And he is doing so legally, but I still maintain that the older African-American artists who created the music should get paid. Or at least their descendants should. There was a lot of ignorance about copyright laws and so on back in "the day" and a lot of the original artists have never gotten what's coming to them monetarily.

[charlie]

15. Zep was especially bad about filching from others

And not just from old blues artists, but contemporaries as well. Dazed and Confused is clearly not a Page composition, and Stairway to Heaven's tempo and chord progression was lifted from a Spirit song, a band he'd toured with earlier. But, that was par for the course at the time, it seems a whole crapload of bands, including the Stones, did it.

It was good of the Rev Billy G to credit Elmore James for Dust My Broom, but he really oughta cut a check to John Lee Hooker's estate for La Grange/Boogie Chillun.

[Captain Hilts]

14. He beat out the combined bid of McCartney and Ono. Shame on him. nt

[timeforpeace]

16. Wonder if he ever actually paid or if that's another debt he died owing.

"When I die, I hope people will be saying 'man, that guy sure owed me a lot of money' "