McCartney Times

Paul McCartney has begun the process of re-acquiring The Beatles’ catalog three decades after it was purchased by Michael Jackson.As Billboard explains, the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 affords songwriters the ability to reclaim the publishers’ share of their songs. Of those songs written before 1978, songwriters can reclaim them after 56 years. The Lennon-McCartney catalog will qualify beginning in 2018.“In order to reclaim publishing ownership of a song,” Billboard notes, “a songwriter must file with the U.S. Copyright Office, terminating the publishing anywhere from 2 to 10 years before the 56 years elapse, in order to obtain ownership of that song’s publishing in a timely manner.” Billboard reports that McCartney filed a termination notice for 32 Lennon-McCartney songs on December 15th, 2015.

Source: Paul McCartney is re-acquiring The Beatles’ catalog | Consequence of Sound