The legendary English musician was chosen by Forbes as one of the brightest minds in the business world. A story of friendship, betrayal, and a happy ending
In 1981, after having recorded with Michael Jackson, and a friend, Paul McCartney went with his lawyer to the office of Lew Grade, owner of ATV Music. He was willing to get the rights back from The Beatles. The response he received from Grade was blunt: he would only return the rights to him if he bought the entire company. The whole package is 40 million dollars.
McCartney left the meeting in despair. He looked for a phone and dialed the number of Yoko Ono, the recent widow of John Lennon. She proposed to go half and half to thus recover the rights they deserved. $20 million each. Ono didn't even hesitate. She had no interest in the 250 songs that ATV Music had. Paul resigned and gambled on the threat. He returned to the office and sought to scare Grade to no avail.
In addition to music, money was another obsession that revolved around his head. He didn't conceive that he couldn't get paid every time one of The Beatles' hits was played. Two years later, in February 1983, he was talking about it with Michael Jackson, who had recently arrived in London. He had hosted him at his farm in Sussex, a few hours before filming the video clip for "Say say say."
"He asked me for advice for his career," recalled McCartney 34 years later, chosen by Forbes as one of the brightest minds in the business. "Okay, three things: first of all, get yourself a good adviser. You're at the top now, there's going to be a lot of money coming in and you really need someone to help you manage it," he recommended and continued: "Finally, be careful with your songs, with your own work."
In his short stay in Sussex, Paul had shown her how he had gotten hold of the rights to songs from some of his favorite artists. Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, and Al Johnson sang in the first talking picture. He had also acquired the first two Beatles creations: "Love me do" and "P. S. I love you", which had not entered into the contract. He also confessed to her -his big mistake of his- that he was in search of recovering the entire catalog and that, so far, he had failed in his attempts.
Somewhat jokingly, Jackson replied, "Oh, I'm going to get yours!" The Beatles laughed. He didn't think she was serious, but he was wrong. He did.
Jackson's confession was itching in the head. When he returned home, he bought several of his favorite songs for a few million and tossed around the possibility of keeping The Beatles' work. Just two years later, he made the offer of him to ATV Music. 47 and a half million dollars by the company that owns one of the most valuable discographies in history.
McCartney considered the episode a betrayal with no possible return. "You think someone is your friend, and suddenly, he comes and steals the same rug you were sitting on with him," he said at the time. At each of his concerts, he had to pay taxes for playing songs that he, along with Lennon, had created.
But he did not lower his arms. For years he fought to get back what was his. He relied on the Copyright Law that was signed in 1976 in the United States, which dictates that authors can claim their rights 35 years after their publication. For tracks released before 1978, the wait time is 56 years.
Just 56 years after the release of The Beatles' first album, "Love me do", Paul assured that he would do everything in his power to recover the rights. The music industry was on edge before a possible unprecedented legal battle when the record company itself preferred to avoid the dispute.
On Thursday, June 29, a document was filed in a Manhattan court ending McCartney's pretrial trial. The rights to The Beatles, his great creations, which for years were in the hands of his former friend Michael Jackson, will return to his possession in October 2018.
