One of the most remarkable cautionary tales in the history of the music industry is the case of Paul McCartney losing the publication rights to Beatles songs. In the early 1960s, he and John Lennon sold their collection to ATV Music, a move that was common at the time and that neither of them fully realized would have long-term effects. In 1985, Michael Jackson paid $47.5 million to acquire ATV Music, following advice he allegedly received from McCartney during their acquaintance. It would take McCartney decades to address the legal and financial issues that resulted from that acquisition, which gave the Lennon/McCartney songwriting repertoire to someone who had no creative investment in it.
That resolution is almost finished in 2026. As each song reaches the 56-year mark set by the Copyright Act of 1976, McCartney has been gradually regaining his 50% share of the US publishing rights—his portion of the Lennon/McCartney partnership—through a combination of US copyright law, a private 2017 settlement with Sony Music Publishing, and the methodical filing of copyright termination notices. Congress acknowledged that young artists frequently give up rights in situations they subsequently regret, which is why the statute grants songwriters this recapture power. McCartney has been use it just as intended.
The stakes are high in terms of money. The Beatles’ whole repertoire is worth over $1 billion, and they make between $70 million and $90 million a year from streaming royalties, synchronization licensing (the money paid when songs are used in movies, TV shows, and commercials), and continuing physical and digital sales. There are two distinct streams from that revenue. Calderstone Productions of Universal Music Group is the main conduit for master royalties, which are paid out on the original sound recordings. McCartney has been attempting to recover publishing royalties from Sony, which are paid based on the underlying compositions and lyrics. The distinction is important because the long-term, compounding value is found in publishing rights.
The extent of McCartney’s business outside of the Beatles is less widely known. Catalogs unrelated to the Fab Four are owned by his private publishing company, MPL Communications. Buddy Holly’s list of songs. Perkins, Carl. Notable Broadway productions include The Music Man. McCartney purchased these at a time when most musicians weren’t considering catalog ownership as an investment category and music publishing was undervalued. He was. The outcome is a royalties machine that generates consistent revenue regardless of whether a specific tour or release cycle is underway and operates in tandem with the Beatles’ earnings.
It is noteworthy that this entire framework was constructed via patient accumulation, legal perseverance, and a determination to fight for decades for rights that ought to have been preserved in the first place, rather than through a single windfall. It took the music industry as a whole nearly 40 years to realize what McCartney had discovered the hard way: the catalog is the asset and the catalog compounds. These days, institutional investors and private equity groups are paying nine and 10 figures for the rights to publish music. When no one else was considering it, McCartney was purchasing them in the 1970s and 1980s.
He is 83 years old in 2026 and has a publishing and royalties position that most music executives would struggle to match. While the songs themselves continue to be used in new movies, ads, and streaming playlists, the machine operates silently, producing eight figures annually. He doesn’t have to tour for the catalog. All it takes is time.
