Paul McCartney has settled a lawsuit brought earlier this year against Sony’s music publishing division surrounding the song rights to hundreds of his own tunes.
Mr. McCartney, 75, has reached a legal agreement concerning the songs’ copyrights with their current holder, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, according to court filings made public Thursday.
The Beatles co-founder sued Sony/ATV in January in hopes of reclaiming the rights to over 260 of his songs, including several composed with slain songwriting partner John Lennon.
The songs were purchase by late pop singer Michael Jackson in 1985 and sold by his estate to Sony last year for $750 million, but attorneys for Mr. McCartney filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court several weeks later in a bid to reclaim ownership under a 1976 federal copyright law that could enable him to control his own songs again as soon as Oct. 5, 2018.
“The parties have resolved this matter by entering into a confidential settlement agreement and jointly request that the Court enter the enclosed proposed order dismissing the above-referenced action without prejudice,” Mr. McCartney’s attorney, Michael Jacobs, wrote in letter Thursday to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, The Hollywood Reporter first reported.
Judge Ramos responded to the letter by signing an order dismissing Mr. McCartney’s declaration for ownership, Reuters reported Friday.
The terms of the settlement were not immediately publicly disclosed, but court documents say that the New York federal court will “enforce the terms of the parties’ Settlement Agreement, should a dispute arise,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Copyrights sought by Mr. McCartney pertaining to Beatles songs including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude,” as well as “Maybe I’m Amazed” by his post-Beatles project Wings, Reuters reported.
Jackson purchased ATV Music in 1985 for $47.5 million, giving him ownership over the bulk of Mr. McCartney’s catalog prior to his passing in 2009.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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