CNN: Michael Jackson could lose his rights to the Beatles' catalog

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Michael Jackson to lose Beatles catalog?
The cash-strapped pop star on trial for child molestation finds some of his assets threatened.
May 5, 2005: 12:00 PM EDT

http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/05/news/newsmakers/jackson_loan/index.htm?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Michael Jackson, the legendary pop star facing child molestation charges, could lose his stake in the lucrative Beatles music catalog.

Two loans estimated at $270 million that are tied to the Beatles catalog and other assets have been sold by Bank of America, the nation's No. 2 bank, to a private hedge fund, CNN/Money has learned.

Collateral for the loans include Jackson's 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which holds copyrights to more than 200 Beatles songs. The loans were also secured by Jackson's own music library and a partial deed on his Neverland Ranch in Santa Ynez, Calif.

It was not immediately clear whether Jackson has defaulted on the loans. If he does, New York hedge fund Fortress Investment Group could take over Jackson's stakes in the music portfolios and in Neverland. Legal experts, however, said that's an unlikely outcome. Typically, when a debtor defaults on a loan, terms are either renegotiated or the debtor is forced into bankruptcy. Another option is for the lender to sell the loan -- and the collateral with it -- to another party. Either way, the risk that Jackson could lose the copyrights to the Beatles songs as well as his own hit recordings is real.

[CottonBear]

1. Could Paul and Ringo buy back the rights to their music?

I really don't understand the music business. Why didn't the Beatles own their own music catalog?

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

4. Yes, if the option described above comes into play...

"Another option is for the lender to sell the loan -- and the collateral with it -- to another party."

Although I'm guessing that to keep the peace, Paul and Ringo would make it a three-way split with Yoko...

[bobthedrummer]

5. They got fucked over by different management teams.

That's so rampant in music when you are sucessful-but it extends down to some of the sleazy club owners too.

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. They were swindled out of the publishing back in the 60's

Brian Epstein cut a bad deal with some British bigwigs, thinking he could negotiate his way out of it later, but he died before it could be done.

The real irony here in this long saga is that one day in the early 80's, Michael Jackson was asking Paul McCartney for advice on long term investments. Paul told him to invest in music publishing, buying up popular song catalogs of other artists. McCartney himself probably makes more money from publishing royalties of other artists than he does his own work, at least when he's not touring. Jackson took his friend's advice seriously, and bought the most lucrative publishing he could find - The Lennon-McCartney songbook. Needless to say, Paul hasn't spoken to him since.

What I find to be an interesting coincidince is that within days of this news breaking (I first heard of it about 3-4 weeks ago) Paul McCartney is suddenly promoting a fall tour, selling tickets to shows which will not be for another 6 months. It seems like Paul is trying to raise a major amount of liquid cash fast, for some reason. Not that Paul's going broke or anything. It's just easier doing it this way than calling in the lawyers and accountants to shuffle other accounts around.

I believe he's trying to buy the songs. And I hope he succeeds in doing so. It's just too bad John's not around to get his due.

EDIT: Ringo's part in this would be really small. Though there are a couple of songs where he's a credited writer (Octopus Garden, Don't Pass Me By)this is primarily the Lennon-McCartney publishing. So while Yoko could choose to buy into the deal, Ringo really wouldn't have a lot to say about it. Neither would Olivia Harrison, as George's songs were under a completely seperate arrangement.

[CottonBear]

8. Wow! Thanks for the detailed response.

I learned something new on DU today. :)

[RandomKoolzip]

2. YAY!!!!!!!!!

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. AMEN, bro...no more frigging NIKE COMMERCIALS.

:toast:

[mark414]

6. good, but he should be able to keep his own catalog

that is so fucking ridiculous...the industry goes on and on against file sharing talking about how it "hurts the artist," but the fuckers won't even let them own their own music. how many big artists own their own music? i'd wager not many...

[NinetySix]

9. Bang, bang! Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon his head!

[emad]

10. Disinformation. He lost it a long time ago.

Why do you think he is so skint?

[emad]

11. Ex tells Feds she married Sony's clone after Wacko died on rhinoplasty ope

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i8220

[flvegan]

12. On the flip side:

Why would Fortress, a notorious investment/asset management corporation sell it to Paul, Yoko or anyone else? They could keep it as a long-term investment that would reap serious cash by whoring the music rights out for every advertisement that asks. They could sell it at a premium (and not just the money BoA loaned on it)at ANY time. Now, in a decade, whenever. The Beatles will always be timeless.