Beatles Publishing Catalogue

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APPLE CORPS SETTLES BEATLES ROYALTIES SUIT - 06sep2007 - Apple Corps, the label that releases Beatles recordings, has settled a royalties dispute with EMI, its parent company. Apple Corps sued EMI for US$60 million in 2005; the settlement is confidential.

MUSIC PUBLISHING -- Julian Lennon sells part of stake in Beatles songs co-written by father by A,Veiga AP -- Julian Lennon sold a share of his financial stake in Beatles songs co-written by his late father to a New York music publishing firm in a deal announced that will help with his next music project. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Primary Wave Music Publishing said its acquisition represented a significant share of Julian Lennon's economic interest in the songs. "I felt it was the appropriate time to take on a partner for both my interest in my father's legendary music and for my future music endeavors," Julian Lennon, 44, said in a statement. The deal does not apply to any of John Lennon's solo compositions. John Lennon and Paul McCartney teamed on many of the Beatles' biggest hits, including "Hey Jude," "Help" and "All You Need Is Love." Songwriters and their music publisher share royalties when a song is licensed for use in a film, television commercial or other use. Primary Wave's deal essentially gives the firm a cut of Julian Lennon's share of the royalties. Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Michael Jackson, owns the publishing rights for the Beatles' catalog. Britain's EMI Group PLC owns the rights to the legendary group's master recordings. As part of the deal with Julian Lennon, Primary Wave will help the singer market his next album, said Larry Mestel, the firm's chief executive. Julian Lennon is the son of John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia. He has released five albums during his career, his most recent being 1998's "Photograph Smile." Last year, Primary Wave acquired 25 percent of the song catalog by grunge band Nirvana from singer Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love.

MUSIC - EMI and Beatles settle royalty dispute by Kate Holton LONDON (Reuters) 12apr2007 - The company representing The Beatles has settled a 30 million-pound ($59 million) royalty dispute with EMI Group, in a deal that could finally pave the way for the Liverpool band's music to go online. Apple Corps, the company owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, said in December 2005 it would sue the record company after negotiations broke down. Apple Corps said an audit had determined EMI had not been fulfilling the terms of its contract. "We have settled on mutually acceptable terms and there will be no further comment," a spokeswoman for EMI said. A spokeswoman for Apple Corps said the deal had been agreed last month but would not give any further details. Apple and EMI previously fought a separate, decade-long courtroom battle over royalties and other issues which was resolved out of court in 1989. The announcement follows the settlement in February of another legal dispute -- a trademark disagreement between Apple Corps and computer and iPod company Apple Inc. which was also seen as key to putting the group's music online. The Beatles have been one of the last big acts to hold out from putting their music on the Internet. Elton John said last month he would make more than 30 of his albums available for digital download. "It seems like it is heading in that direction," Jupiter analyst Mark Mulligan told Reuters of the Beatles catalogue. "The conversation has changed from an 'if' to a 'when'. "The Beatles are a perennial (favorite). You can put the content out there and it will sell. If they put the Beatles catalogue online you will very likely see them having number ones again." EMI's Chief Executive Eric Nicoli told reporters earlier this month he was working on a deal to put the band's music online but refused to give a time frame.

MUSIC - Yoko Ono Sues EMI, Subsidiary for $10 million (AP) Oct 19, 2006 -- Yoko Ono sued music company EMI Group PLC and a subsidiary for $10 million, claiming she was cheated out of royalties due from the sale of music recordings by her late husband, John Lennon. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, accuses EMI and Capitol Records Inc. of violating a half-dozen agreements by "willfully and knowingly underreporting royalties" by hiding the "true use and disposition of Lennon's recordings." Ono's three-page filing, which included a summons and notice but no detailed complaint, also accuses EMI and Capitol of "intentionally and systematically rendering dishonest and grossly deficient accounting statements." A spokeswoman for EMI/Capitol, Jeanne Meyer, would not discuss Ono's lawsuit specifically, but she said, "Artists from time to time request audits of their royalty accounts. Sometimes there are differences of opinion, which is understandable given the complex nature of recording contracts." Meyer said the contracts are sometimes subject to interpretation "but 99 times out of 100 these things are resolved in an amicable way." Ono's lawyer, John LiCalsi, refused to comment on the lawsuit, which asks for at least $10 million plus interest. In August, state Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz refused to dismiss a similar lawsuit brought by the Beatles and their music company, Apple Corps Ltd. That lawsuit seeks ownership and control of the Beatles' master recordings. Meyer said her company is appealing the judge's ruling.

MUSIC & TRADEMARK - Paul McCartney seeks to register name as trademark - Oct 13, 2006 LONDON (Reuters) -- Former Beatle Paul McCartney seeks to cash in on his name by registering it as a trademark for use on everything from waistcoats to vegetarian food. In addition to vegetarian items, he is also seeking permission for the name on meat, fish, poultry and game. The application has been made by McCartney's company, MPL Communications Ltd, and if successful will give it the exclusive right to use of the name McCartney on clothing, footwear, headgear and a variety of other goods. The full application specifies such disparate items as articles of fancy dress, overalls, waistcoats, hosiery, dressing-gowns, bath robes, sports clothing and swimwear. MPL Communications was set up by McCartney to handle his recordings after the break-up of the Beatles. Anyone who objects now has three months to lodge objections with the Trademarks Registry. Then a trademark judge will decide whether the marks meet the legal criteria to be registered. Companies and individuals apply to register names and logos as trademarks in order to identify the commercial source or origin of goods and services and set their business and its products or services apart from those of others. Once a trademark has been granted, its owners can take action to prevent others using identical, or even similar, names and logos.

Beatles to sue EMI for millions in royalties (AP) 01sept2006 -- Judge allows the latest lawsuit in a three-decade legal battle to proceed, with the Fab Four's recording company claiming that the label giant owes them millions. When Apple Corps, the Beatles record company, gets involved in a lawsuit, it has a tendency to last a while, even 30 years after the band's demise. Just like the Fab Four's three-decade legal battle with Apple Computer over the use of the apple logo, Apple Corps' legal action against label giant and affiliate label Capitol Records continues 27 years after it began. New York State Supreme Court Justice Karla Moskowitz yesterday denied EMI's request to have Apple Corps' lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract thrown out. In its complaint, the Beatles and Apple Corps seek $25 million in addition to two prior EMI settlement payments, one of which was for $35 million, and also hope to reclaim rights to all the master recordings by the band. In the original 1979 lawsuit, Apple Corps claimed that EMI and Capitol had underpaid the band by more than $20 million. A settlement was reached in 1989, giving the band and Apple increased royalty rates and requiring EMI and Capitol to follow more stringent auditing requirements. Apple Corps claims that a recent audit uncovered additional fraud, triggering the filing of the latest lawsuit last December. The Beatles, including the estates of the late George Harrison and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, claimed that EMI and Capitol wrongly classified copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged and secretly sold them for more than $19 million, retaining the proceeds. EMI had sought to have the case thrown out because a fiduciary relationship no longer exists between the company and the band. Moskowitz denied that request. "Because of the allegation plaintiffs make here and the [original] decision, I cannot hold, as a matter of law, that the parties no longer have a fiduciary relationship," Moskowitz ruled. "[P]laintiff has pled a viable, continuing fiduciary relationship. Whether or not the level of contentiousness and distrust was so great as to destroy the fiduciary relationship the parties had is an issue that must await development of the factual record."

MUSIC - 'Sgt. Peppers' Best Album in Last 50 Years by Anadolu News Agency, August 30, 2006 -- Britain’s favorite album was named The Beatle’s “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” voted the best album in the last 50 years. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” ranked second in the survey conducted by BBC2 Radio, in which 220,000 people participated. Every year in the U.K. a vote is held to select the best albums for the last 50 years. So far, 787 albums have ranked been selected as the best album. The first 10 albums selected in the BBC2 Radios’ list are as follows: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles), Thriller (Michael Jackson), The Joshua Tree (U2), Rumours (Fleetwood Mac), Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Revolver (The Beatles), Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel), Abbey Road (The Beatles), A Night At The Opera (Queen), and The Beatles’ Self-titled album.

Apple vs. Apple: Beatles' Apple loses suit by Jennifer Quinn, Associated Press, May 8, 2006 LONDON - A long and winding legal road took another twist for the Beatles' record company today, when a British judge ruled that Apple Computer Inc. is entitled to use the apple logo on its iTunes Music Store. Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests, contended that the U.S. company's use of the logo on its popular online music store had broken a 1991 agreement in which each side agreed not to enter into the other's field of business. But High Court Judge Anthony Mann disagreed, saying that the computer company's logo is used in association with the store - not the music - and so did not breach the agreement. "I conclude that the use of the apple logo ... does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work," Mann said in his written judgment. "I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves." Though Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs said he was "glad to put this disagreement behind us," the dispute appears far from over. Neil Aspinall, the manager of Apple Corps, said his company would immediately take the case to Britain's Court of Appeal. "We felt that during the course of the trial we clearly demonstrated just how extensively Apple Computer has broken the agreement," Aspinall said in a statement. Apple Corps was founded by the Fab Four in 1968 and still owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, the widow of John Lennon and the estate of George Harrison. Apple Computer has sold more than 1 billion songs through the iTunes Music Store, which is available throughout Europe as well as in the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. Though there are more than 3 million tracks available for purchase in the U.S. - and 2 million in Britain - there are no Beatles songs listed; the band's catalog is not available on iTunes. In his brief statement, Jobs said he hoped the ruling would help rectify that situation: "We have always loved the Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store."

Beatles, fighting Apple Computer, prepare for digital downloads by BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE 22apr06 -- Music by The Beatles, notably absent from the digital revolution, will be made available for downloading by fans of the Fab Four. The entire Beatles catalog is being remastered and the recordings will be made available for downloading, according to a witness statement in a London court by Neil Aspinall, managing director of Apple Corps Ltd., The Beatles' company. The statement, made during a suit by Apple Corps against Apple Computer Inc., was confirmed today by Moira Bellas, a spokeswoman for Apple Corps. "There are plans to do it," she said of offering Beatles songs for downloading. "There's no firm date yet" and no deals have yet been signed with downloading services, she said. The Beatles' company is suing the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker over an agreement concerning the "apple" name and logo. Apple Corps claims the computer company, which makes the iPod music player and has sold more than 1 billion songs through the iTunes Music Store, breached the 1991 agreement. Songs of The Beatles, who spearheaded the "British Invasion" of the U.S. music charts in the 1960s, are the best-known gap in the roster of digital music available to fans. The global recording industry is counting on digital sales, which tripled last year to $1.1 billion, to grow rapidly and offset a continuing decline in compact disc sales. Recorded music sales totaled $33 billion last year. New masters Songs by The Beatles, which include "I Feel Fine," "Yesterday" and "Let It Be," have proved popular to successive generations of music fans. A 2000 album released by EMI Group Plc titled "1" that contained 27 U.S. or British number one singles has sold more than 20 million copies, so young music fans who grew up on digital downloads are considered a ripe new audience. "We're remastering the whole Beatles catalog, just to make it sound brighter and better and getting proper booklets to go with each of the packages," Aspinall said in the lawsuit witness statement, according to World Entertainment News Network, and confirmed by Bellas, the Apple Corps spokeswoman. "I think it would be wrong to offer downloads of the old masters when I am making new masters," Aspinall said. "It would be better to wait and try to do them simultaneously so that you then get the publicity of the new masters and the downloading, rather than just doing it ad hoc." Apple Corps, which represents The Beatles' business interests, is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison. Court hearings in Apple Corps' lawsuit against Apple Computer concluded April 5, with the judge saying he will issue a decision at a later date.

Handwritten Beatles Lyrics for Sale in N.Y. by Shenzhen Daily of CRI online 2006-01-19 -- John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles song “A Day in the Life” are up for sale and auctioneers Bonhams said Tuesday they could fetch around US$2 million. "Based on market history, we believe somewhere in the neighborhood of US$2 million,” Martin Gammon of Bonhams said. That could make the lyrics “the most valuable musical manuscript composed in the 20th century to be offered at auction,” he said. The sealed bidding process will close March 7. The lyrics are owned by an unnamed collector who bought them at auction in 1992 from the estate of one of the Beatles’ road managers. It was 39 years ago that Lennon sat down at his piano with the Jan. 17, 1967 edition of the Daily Mail propped up in front of him. Some of the stories inspired him to write what became the final track on the group’s ground-breaking 1967 album “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Clips about a young man who was killed in a car crash — thought to be Tara Browne, friend of the Beatles and heir to the Guinness empire — and a study showing that the streets of the northern English town of Blackburn had 4,000 potholes were immortalized in the song. “He blew his mind out in a car, he didn’t notice that the lights had changed” and “I heard the news today, oh boy, 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire,” are among the lines of the song. Citing the line “I’d love to turn you on,” the BBC banned the record from its radio stations saying it appeared to advocate drug use. Paul McCartney would add the middle section — including the line: “Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, somebody spoke and I went into a dream” — to complete what many fans and critics regard as one of the band’s finest songs. A seven-figure sum may not be an unrealistic target. Lennon’s handwritten lyric sheet for the Beatles’ 1967 live satellite broadcast of “All You Need is Love” sold in July last year for 600,000 pounds (US$1.04 million).

Jackson in debt battle over Beatles catalogue by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles 21 December 2005 -- Representatives for Michael Jackson were fighting yesterday to prevent his financial world from collapsing after a crucial debt repayment deadline came and went and creditors circled around his most prized assets - including a 50 per cent stake in the Beatles' back catalogue. Lawyers and Mr Jackson's brother, Randy, have spent the past few days negotiating with the New York-based Fortress Investment Group, which holds the singer's debt, to reschedule repayment for another six months at an interest rate of 9.5 per cent - well above market value. The negotiations have proved prickly because of published reports that Mr Jackson failed to make his monthly interest payment in October. In other words, Fortress has to decide if it wants to keep profiting from the debt, or if the risk of default is so great it should insist on immediate foreclosure. The Beatles catalogue, estimated to be worth between $200m (£100m) and $500m on its own, is being held as collateral. Jackson's lawyers have been keen to play down the gravity of the situation, telling reporters they are confident a rescheduling agreement will be reached this week. "There is no doomsday, or anything like that," one lawyer, Brent Ayscough, told Reuters. "At the moment, people are still talking." Nothing about Mr Jackson's finances looks particularly rosy, however. He has a mountain of legal debts arising from his heavily publicised child molestation trial, which culminated in an acquittal in June. He is having trouble making the mortgage payments on the Jackson family home in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, and some reporters suggest his mother and siblings may have to move out at the end of the month. There are constant rumours about financial problems at his Neverland Ranch in the hills north of Santa Barbara, which costs $5m a year to run. Mr Jackson himself, meanwhile, appears to have decamped to Bahrain where he has spent the past several months as a guest of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa. In an attempt to generate some cash in a hurry, he is re-releasing some of the hits from his glory days, starting with "Thriller", which will hit shops in the UK on 23 January. Otherwise, his music career appears to be moribund. He announced to great fanfare after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast in late August that he was producing a fund-raising charity record, but it has yet to materialise. Since his acquittal, Mr Jackson has been the subject of many rumours about his financial affairs. All the indications are that Mr Jackson's finances are deteriorating to a point of breakdown and recrimination. Two of his former employees have filed complaints alleging he owes them millions of dollars. Sony Music appears to be waiting for the right moment to pounce and acquire his half of the Beatles list and his other musical assets - including famous songs by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Presley and Sly and the Family Stone - and he has been a party to the debt renegotiation talks.

Beatles Sue EMI for Millions by Hugh Davies 17dec2005 London Telegraph -- The best things in life may be free but, as the Beatles made clear in 1963, "give me money, now that's what I want". According to Apple Corps, a company set up under the Granny Smith logo in 1968 to release the Beatles' songs and manage their creative affairs, record labels are shortchanging the firm in royalties. So yesterday, lawsuits were launched in an attempt to recover £30 million (60 million US). Ordinarily, the shareholders - Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr (listed under his real name, Richard Starkey), Olivia Harrison, who replaced her husband George on the board a month before he died, and Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow - have little to complain about. Apple's main purpose is to exploit anything relating to the Beatles - and with compilation albums like their number one hits becoming the fastest selling in history, their wealth keeps piling up. Yesterday's action in the High Court followed audits by Apple at several record labels. The £30 million claim relates to what Apple says are "unpaid royalties" from recordings sold across the world. It is suing HMV, which in 1962 first recorded the band at its Abbey Road studios, playing Besame Mucho, P.S. I Love You, Ask Me Why and Love Me Do for the Parlophone label. America's Capitol Records, which released the early Beatles recordings in the US, is also being sued in the New York Supreme Court. Neil Aspinall, the head of Apple, who attended Liverpool Institute with McCartney and Harrison, and was their driver before becoming their road manager, said the audits had been carried out by the firm's royalty investigators. A "breakdown" had occurred in negotiations with EMI. McCartney, Starr and Mrs Harrison were reported last year to be worth a total of £1,965 million. McCartney's fortune is said to have swept past the £800 million mark after he signed up to promote the United States-based Fidelity Investments - and, at 63, he said yesterday, while recording tonight's Michael Parkinson show on ITV, he had no plans to retire. He said: "People say: 'Why do you keep doing it?' And I say: 'Why shouldn't I?' I love it. I like what I do and as long as the audiences like it, why should I stop?" McCartney estimated that he had written "nearly 300 songs" with Lennon. The musician, whose youngest daughter is two, is plugging his new children's book, High in the Clouds. Starr, who concentrates on his London-based charity, the Lotus Foundation, is worth £125 million, as are Mrs Harrison and her son Dhani. The band's legal battles date back to 1988 when a New York court reinstated punitive damages and claims of fraud and theft against Capitol Records in a nine-year-old £47 million breach of contract suit brought by Apple. At the time, a £23 million suit, claiming Capitol had deliberately stalled the release of Beatles CDs was dismissed.

The Beatles' Companies -- NORTHERN SONGS was formed in February 1963 with directors Brian Epstein and Dick James. Initial share capital of £ 100 in £ 1 shares. These were divided into "A" shares with 49 owned by James and "B" shares, with 19 owned by Lennon, 20 by McCartney and 10 by NEMS Enterprises Ltd. The company was restructured prior to February 1965. By that time, all the shareholders had cashed part of their holdings. Lennon and McCartney each recieved £ 94,270 and were left holding 15%. The shares they cashed were floated publicly in January at 7/9d. During the restructuring, the shares had been increased to 7,500,000 at 2/- each. This gave the company a value of £ 2,718,750. Apart from John and Paul's 15% holdings, Dick James Music held 7%, his family held 15%, Emmanuel Charles Silver (co-director of DJM, who was also chairman of Northern Songs Ltd.) held 15% and NEMS Enterprises held 7%. George and Ringo held 1.6% between them. Although the balance of power would seem to have been equal, the contractual arrangements bound John and Paul to Northern until 1973. The early songs published by Northern were channelled through the company, Lenmac Enterprsies Ltd., which John and Paul sold out to Northern for £ 142,000 each. This sale seems to have included copyright. From the time of the floatation all songs were assigned to Northern through the company, Maclen (Music) Ltd. Monies were divided on a 50-50 basis on 90% of gross takings with Dick James taking 10% of gross for management. Therefore, Dick James was given first bite of the pie with 10%, Maclen (Music) Ltd. took 50% of the remainder and the left overs were given to Northern from which John and Paul each took 15%. [Once Apple Corps Ltd was created it took over 20% of Maclen (Music) Ltd., with the remaining 80% being split evenly between John and Paul.] Maclen (Music) Ltd. was bound to provide Northern Songs with at least 6 songs a year. In effect, over 8 years, they provided more than 100. Outwith the U.K., different contracts existed to cover the exclusive rights of Maclen Music Inc. for the territories of the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico and the Phillipines. There were also other contracts with companies in France, Australia and elsewhere. The core to the relationship between Maclen and Northern was the fact that Maclen assigned the copyright of songs to Northern in return for royalty payments. John and Paul were deriving an income but Northern had control of their songs and that fact is the key to how The Beatles lost the rights to their own songs. Although the press assumed that this was the end of The Beatles control over their own songs, it has to be remembered that Northern was nothing more than the distributor for Maclen (Music) Ltd., which would continue to provide The Beatles with an income from their songs regardless of who controlled Northern. Over the years, there were a number of disputes and High Court actions involving ATV and The Beatles. However, the two managed to establish a working relationship to the degree that both Lennon and McCartney signed solo contracts with ATV Music through their respective companies. Eventually, ATV became a subsidiary of Associated Communications Corporation, which was itself the subject of a takeover battle, coming under the control of Robert Holmes A'Court, who then sold ATV Music to Michael Jackson. Documents at Companies House show that Jackson arranged a $ 30,000,000 (US) loan from Chemical Bank to facilitate the purchase before transferring the ownership of Northern Songs to Nassau in the Bahamas, where two bankers were appointed to the board. The whole ATV group was aquired (including Bruton Music Ltd., ITC Filmscores Ltd., Marble Arch Music Ltd., and the long established publishers, Lawrence Wright Music Co. Ltd.). There is no clear documentation of the total price paid, although press reports indicate £ 34,000,000. The annual returns and company accounts filed in the years prior to Jackson's takeover give the annual turnover of Northern Songs Ltd.: 1978. £ 2,637,161. 1979. £ 2,953,206. 1980. £ 2,305,089. 1981. £ 2,278,017. 1982. £ 2,920,039. 1983. £ 3,358,455. 1984. £ 2,081,833. 1985. £ 942,010. In the period prior to Michael Jackson's purchase of Northern Songs Ltd., care was taken in the accounts to explain where the income originated. This had never happened when Northern was merely a subsidiary of ATV, which shows that the company accepted that its value came primarily from The Beatles songs. In the fifteen month period up to 30:06:83, the sources of income are as follows: UK Mechanical. £ 647,886. UK Performance. £ 199,901. UK Lyric. £ 1,144. UK Sheet Music. £ 176,028. Stage/Box Office. nil. Foreign. £ 2,333,496. Mechanical relates to income from UK recording companies, either for Beatles recordings of songs written by members of the group, or cover versions by other artists. Performance relates to Performing Right Society payments and Sheet Music is self explanatory. Unfortunately, Foreign could cover almost anything. It might explain, however, why the remarks were made in the original floatation document relating to the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Phillipines. Whatever the reasons behind the intricate web of companies and subsidiaries, (other than the making and saving of money) with Dick James, Brian Epstein and John Lennon all dead, we may never fully unravel the truth. All remaining disputes were settled in the seventies. Since then, there has been a clear division between the accumulated wealth of the group and their future earnings. The Beatles themselves seem unable to untangle themselves from the complexities. On 7:11:89, Messrs McCartney, Harrison and Starr signed a formal agreement with Yoko Ono sharing dividends, directors fees, promotional fees or "any other remuneration" equally between them without them all having to be members of Apple Corps Ltd. This agreement was lodged at Companies House. Maclen (Music) Ltd. Although it is obvious that Maclen (Music) continued to represent an important part of Lennon and McCartney's financial affairs, there is no indication in the accounts as to what income is derived from, or remitted to Maclen Music Ltd. or Inc. Maclen (Music) Ltd. was formed 4:02:65 with a share capital of £ 100. Only five shares have ever been issued. Two are held by Paul McCartney with another two now being held by Yoko Ono. The fifth is held by Apple Corps Ltd., with which Maclen has a management agreement. various references in the accounts of Maclen (Music) Ltd. and Apple Corps Ltd. make it clear that Paul McCartney has in the past tried to change the agreement between Maclen and Apple. The disputes have been settled on 29th December 1974 and 15th January 1975. The latter settlement agreed the validity of the first and saw Maclen pay £ 1,600,000 to Apple (£ 792,071 in respect of administration and management fees and £ 857,929 in respect of termination). Apple Corps Ltd. In the annual report of Apple Corps Ltd. for the year ended 31:12:74, it was stated: "By an order of the High Court dated 31:12:74, the partnership of The Beatles was dissolved from that date. Under the terms of an agreement between all partners of The Beatles & Co. dated 29:01:74, an 80% interest in all future income from Beatles group recordings is vested in the company". The report also states that Apple Corps was a party to a partnership agreement with Messrs. Harrison, Lennon, McCartney and Starr for the purpose of exploiting and publishing the services of The Beatles as entertainers. Apple was entitled to 80% and the individuals 5% each of the profits. By an agreement dated 29:12:74, involving all parties, it was stated that the partnership would be dissolved. It was agreed that income arising from recordings by the named individuals received prior to 1:10:74 be treated as income of the partnership and thereafter as the income of the individual concerned. From the formaton of the company, the individuals have devoted the majority of their activities to creative matters and the promotion of those creative efforts. They have not been actively involved in the financial affairs of the company which have been handled by their personal managers, business managers and management companies. To that end, only Yoko Ono remains a director of Apple Corps, the other shareholders leaving themselves free to devote their time to creative works. They are thus exempt from the disclosure requiremnets of the 1985 Companies Act. The other listed directors are: Dennis James O'Brien, 26 Cadogan Square, London. SW1. [Representing George Harrison]. He is also a director of Apple Publicity Ltd., Apple Electronics Ltd., Apple Films Ltd., Apple Management, Apple Publishers Ltd., The Beatles Ltd., Python Music Ltd. and Subafilms Ltd., as well as being director of George's solo companies: Handmade Films (Productions) Ltd., Handmade Films (Distributors) Ltd., and the charity, The Material World Charitable Foundation Ltd. John Linder Eastman of 39 West 54th Street, New York. [Representing Paul McCartney]. Paul's brother-in-law is also director of Apple Publicity Ltd., Apple Electronics Ltd., Apple Films Ltd., Apple Management, Apple Publishers Ltd., The Beatles Ltd., Python Music Ltd., and Subafilms Ltd. as well as Maclen (Music) Ltd. and Paul's solo companies, MPL Communications, MPL Productions Ltd., MPL Music Ltd., MPL Pictures Ltd., McCartney Music Ltd., McCartney Pictures Ltd., McCartney Productions Ltd., McCartney Publishing Ltd., Kidney Punch Ltd. and Wings Music Ltd. Hilary Lester Gerrard of Mille Fiori, Block B (16 etage), Rue des Genets, Monte Carlo. [Represents Ringo Starr, who at one time established tax exile status by living in Monte Carlo] is also a director of Apple Publicity Ltd., Apple Electronics Ltd., Apple Films Ltd., Apple Management, Apple Publishers Ltd., The Beatles Ltd., Python Music Ltd. and Subafilms Ltd., as well as Ringo's solo company, Startling Music. Yoko Ono holds directorships in Apple Publicity Ltd., Apple Electronics Ltd., Apple Films Ltd., Apple Management Ltd., Apple Publishers Ltd., The Beatles Ltd., Python Music Ltd. and Subafilms Ltd., as well as Maclen (Music) Ltd., Lennon Productions Ltd. and Ono Music Ltd. Apple Corps Ltd's company secretary is Standby Films Ltd., a company run by The Beatles' former road manager, Neil Aspinall, from his home at 49, Waldergrave Park, Twickenham. [It should be remembered that prior to working for The Beatles, Aspinall was a trainee accountant]. Aspinall has also been described as managing director of Apple Corps Ltd. It is a £ 100 company with its capital allocated as follows: 25 shares: Yoko Ono Lennon. 25 shares: George Harrison. 25 shares: J. P. McCartney. 25 shares: Richard Starkey. Apple Corps Ltd. provides the key to many of the mysteries surrounding the dissolution of The Beatles partnership as the companies annual reports are available for more than 25 years. Throughout the turmoil involving Paul's leaving of The Beatles and the 1974 settlement of his financial dispute, many have assumed this marked the end to the contractual relationship between the group members. This is far from the case. Apple Corps Ltd. is a holding company. It was disclosed in the 1983 annual report that there are two intermediate holding companies as well: Apple Corps SA of Switzerland and Apple Corps Inc of the U.S.A. No activities, interests or income of the Swiss company has been disclosed. In the annual report, the company is listed as the first of seven subsidiary companies of Apple Corps Ltd. The others are (in order): Apple Corps Inc. (which is parent compnay to) Apple Records Inc. (California), Apple Records Inc. (New York), Apple Music Publsihing Co. Inc., Apple Films Inc.. The seventh company listed is Python Music Ltd., a subsidiary of Apple Corps Ltd. which also has a 20% beneficiary interest in Maclen (Music) Ltd. and a 23.9% beneficiary interst in Subafilms Ltd. Apple Corps Inc. would seem to make a slight loss most years. Its accounts for the trading period ending 30:06:86 are enclosed at Companies House with those for Apple Corps Ltd. for the year ended 31:01:87. These accounts show an accumulated defecit of $ 2,112,653 (US). The following statement appears attached to the accounts: "No disclosure is given in respect of turnover and group profits arising from each geographical area and activity as the directors believe this would be prejudicial to the interests of the group". In that year's report the connection between Apple Corps Inc. and Apple Corps Ltd. has been changed. Apple Corps Inc. had "become a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Apple Corps Ltd, a United Kingdom company, and is affiliated (through common shareholders) with a number of other United Kingdom and other companies". It can be assumed, therefore that Apple Corps Inc. may be a subsidiary of Apple Corps SA which may be a subsidiary of Apple Corps Ltd. This would allow the relevant companies to make any payments required by their directors to anyone, anywhere. It is probably because of this that the accounts for Apple Corps Inc. are not included with Apple Corps Ltd., even although they are lodged at Companies House: Year. Turnover. Profit After Tax. Retained Profits.

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1969. £ 1,743,808. £ 491,679. £ 1,493,884. 1970. £ 4,349,000. £ 1,385,659. £ 2,879,543. 1971. £ 2,443,182. £ 696,057. £ 3,575,600.1972. £ 1,688,419. £ 472,495. £ 4,048,095. 1973. £ 3,210,232. £ 753,755. £ 4,801,850. 1974. £ 3,759,127. £ 175,444. £ 4,793,568.1975. £ 2,540,979. £ 261,075. £ 4,276,638. 1976. The accounting period was varied - no records. 1977. £ 4,071,900. £ 1,389,841. £ 2,886,797.1978. £ 3,564,861. £ 1,793,115. £ 4,679,912. 1979. £ 4,222,397. £ 2,214,062. £ 6,758,974. 1980. £ 4,305,769. £ 1,441,052. £ 8,200,026.1981. £ 3,817,021. £ 584,488. £ 8,184,514. 1982. £ 6,315,060. £ 1,031,681. £ 8,466,195. 1983. £ 4,597,209. £ 873,548. £ 8,639,743.1984. £ 2,249,161. £ 625,842. £ 5,931,877. 1985. £ 2,088,407. £ 85,842 loss. £ 5,566,230. 1986. £ 1,578,404. £ 678,817 loss. £ 4,617,413.£ 1,809,360. £ 1,278,726 loss. £ 3,238,687.

Some clue may be obtained as to the way Apple structures its business from a note in the 1979 accounts of Apple Corps Ltd.: "The company's investments in subsidiaries is included in the accounts at 31:01:79 at cost less preliminary expenses written off and provision amounting to £ 8,045". Also in the annual report for the year ending 31:12:79, are full details of The Beatles settlement of their dispute with Allen Klein after he had negotiated increases to their royalties: "In 1973, a dispute arose between the Company and ABKCO Industries who acted as business managers of the Company and its subsidiaries from 8:05:69 to 31:03:73 as to the validity of an agreement underwhich ABKCO claimed commission on certain past and future income of the Company and of the partnership, The Beatles & Co. The amount claimed by ABKCO as payable by the Company on its income and on the income of the partnership amounted to £ 1,035,099 in respect of the year ended 31:12:70 and £ 86,067 in respect of years prior to 31:12:70. £ 837,113 had been paid to ABKCO by the Company or on ts behalf. This dispute was settled by an arrangement dated 8:01:77, under which it was accepted that amounts already paid to ABKCO by the Company or on its behalf should be retained by ABKCO and that a further payment of £ 2,912,664 should be made by the Company to ABKCO". Beatles U.K. Companies - Apple Films. Apple Publishing. Python Music. Subafilms. Singsong. Beatles Foreign Companies - Apple Corps (Austalia) ; Apple Corps (Canada) ; Apple Corps (France) ; Apple Corps (Germany) ; Apple Corps (Italy) ; Apple Corps (Netherlands) ; Apple Corps. (Switzerland). Beatles Companies Registered In New York - Apple Corps. ; Apple Electronics ; Apple Films ; Apple Music ; Apple Records. Beatles Companies Registered In California - Apple Music ; Apple Records ; Python Music. Solo Companies: Bag Music ; Harrisongs ; Joko Music ; Startling Music. © 1995-2003 Rockmine Archives http://www.rockmine.music.co.uk/Beatles/BeatleCo.html

MAKE INVINCIBLE VISIBLE!Michael Jackson & The Beatles Publishing Catalogue

Michael Jackson Fan Club press release © 2001 -- Today, only five months after the release of INVINCIBLE, Michael Jackson is invisible... His new album has disappeared from the charts around the world. This situation is quite unusual for the King of Pop, an artist whose albums have always been hot items in terms of promotion for at least two years after their release. Today, only five months after its release, INVINCIBLE has become invisible. It did sell an astonishing 5 million copies in less than 3 months though, a record-breaking figure in such a short time, even by Michael Jackson's standards. But after enjoying a successful launch, Jackson's best ever, INVINCIBLE suddenly dropped out of the charts and became yesterday's news. What are the reasons behind the fall of INVINCIBLE? How come a successful album with a huge potential suddenly stops being promoted? THE TRUTH - The reason why INVINCIBLE is no longer being promoted by Sony Music is because the record company is fighting with Michael Jackson over a financial matter. A few years ago, as an advance on payments on the forthcoming sales of INVINCIBLE, Michael Jackson negotiated a loan from Sony Music, a common transaction between artists and record companies. In order to validate the loan, Michael Jackson had to put his ownership in the ATV Music Publishing catalog (including the 251-song Beatles' catalog) as collateral. The ATV Music catalog was bought by Michael Jackson in 1985. In 1995, it was merged with Sony Music's Sony Music Publishing catalog to become ATV/Sony Music Publishing. When merging his ATV catalog with Sony's, Michael Jackson pocketed a sum estimated to be 95 million dollars. Today, Sony Music is pressuring Michael Jackson to refund the loan he took from them. And they have the means to do so. The problem is that Sony Music are simultaneously preventing Michael Jackson from repaying the money he owes them by sabotaging the promotion of the INVINCIBLE album, Jackson's main source of income to refund the loan. So far, the INVINCIBLE album has sold 5 million copies worldwide. Sony Music needs to reach the 7 million copies mark before they can make money from sales of the album. As for Michael Jackson, he is recouping the outstanding cost of the recording of the album on his portion of the money generated by the sales of the album. That means he hasn't been getting any money from INVINCIBLE up to now. In order to generate monies for Sony Music and Michael Jackson, the INVINCIBLE album needs to make sales beyond the 7 million mark. It shouldn't be difficult for the King of Pop to reach that mark. Thriller sold 52 million copies, Bad 25, Dangerous 26 and HIStory, a double-CD, 14 million copies. However, INVINCIBLE is not selling anymore. Except in the USA, where Sony Music is not shipping more than they can sell, in other parts of the world, including European markets, Sony Music have been receiving massive returns since January. In Germany, France and the UK, Europe's biggest markets, wholesalers are returning unsold copies of INVINCIBLE by the thousand. Indeed, nobody was expecting the promotion of the album to end so suddenly. But why would Sony sabotage an album they paid for? And why would they put down their biggest-selling artist? Simply because they could get Michael Jackson's half of ATV Music Publishing by doing so. If Michael Jackson fails to reimburse his loan, the ownership of his share of the ATV Music Publishing catalog will fall into the hands of Sony Music. Sony/ATV Publishing is currently the third largest music publishing company in the world. The money it generates and represents goes beyond Michael Jackson's loan from Sony or possible revenues generated by the INVINCIBLE album. Besides, a music catalog is easier to deal with than an artist with strong opinions on how his career should be managed. Sony Music is thus trying to sabotage the INVINCIBLE album. But it is important to the record company that the manoeuvre be not obvious. It is essential for Sony Music that the public and media be not aware of the matter. Bad publicity is a menace they are afraid of. The goal of our association MAKE INVINCIBLE VISIBLE is to make people aware of the situation between Michael Jackson and Sony Music. As Michael Jackson fans, we have been watching helplessly the killing of the INVINCIBLE album. Until now. Unlike previous feuds between record companies and artists (Prince Vs Warner, George Michael Vs Sony Music, etc.), the Michael Jackson Vs Sony Music situation is different in the sense that the artist wants his album to sell and is ready to promote it, but the record company isn't. INVINCIBLE is Michael Jackson's last album with Sony Music, despite what the record company says. This is his last album with them. Here is a chronology of facts that documents the feud between Sony Music and Michael Jackson with detailed examples. June 2001 - Sony Music picks "You Rock My World" as the first single off of INVINCIBLE. Michael Jackson favored "Unbreakable" and had already started to conceive the video for the song. The last-minute change of single forces him to rush the conception of a new video to accompany "You Rock My World". Sony Music contacts director Hype Williams who comes up with a treatment for the video. Michael is not satisfied with it nor with the budget Sony propose for the video. Paul Hunter, a new director, is hired. After numerous disputes on the budget of the video, filming finally starts. August 2001 - Michael Jackson is working on his forthcoming Madison Square Garden concerts. Sony Music learned the news of the events in the media. They are displeased with the fact that they are not involved with the project and decide to boycott it. Sony Music offices around the world receive a memo that forbids them to organize any kind of promotional activity in connection with the Madison Square Garden concerts. The shows will eventually be sold out and will become hugely popular TV events in the USA, despite the absence of promotion and implication from Sony Music. Moreover, Sony Music show no interest in acquiring the rights to the concerts to be used worldwide as a tool for the promotion of INVINCIBLE. As a consequence, less than five countries around the world will broadcast the concert. The fee concert producer David Gest is asking for the show is so high that even big markets like Germany, France or the UK can't afford it. September 2001 -"You Rock My World", the first single from INVINCIBLE is a strong radio hit in America. Billboard Magazine analysts and music industry observers predict the song could easily reach the #1 slot in Billboard's HOT 100 provided there was a single commercially available (American charts are based on radio airplay and sales combined together). However, Sony Music repeatedly delay and postpone the commercial release of the "You Rock My World" single. Ultimately, the single will not be commercially released at all in the USA, in spite of a strong demand from record-buying customers. To justify their decision, Sony Music claim the release of a commercial single could harm the sales of the album. But the singles market in the USA is a small one. A single like "You Rock My World" would have sold a few thousand copies, enough to gain crucial points for the Billboard charts, but not enough to harm the sales of the album. Besides, the promotional impact of a #1 single on the public is strong. Sony Music's decision not to release the single was clearly biased. -Jay-Z, who remixed "You Rock My World" at Jackson's request, refuses to let Sony Music use his remix on the commercial singles of "You Rock My World" worldwide because the record company refused him the right to use Jackson's vocals on a remix of his hit song "Girls, Girls, Girls" they recorded together. -After "You Rock My World"; "Cry" is the new single released from INVINCIBLE in America. Director Nick Brandt is hired to film the video. However, from the beginning, Michael Jackson is not happy with the low-budget project Sony Music is proposing. He becomes so displeased with Sony Music's stiffness on the video situation that he decides not to appear in the video. The video will eventually be released without his participation. October 2001 - INVINCIBLE is released around the world. In the USA, the album is released with a minimum of promotion. When the album becomes a success in America despite the modest promotion, Sony Music takes credit for it by conveniently claiming the low-profile promotion was a plan to have people focus on music. November 2001-Michael Jackson finalizes the production of "What More Can I Give", a charity song for the families of the victims of September 11, featuring an all-star cast of singers (including Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana). Unfortunately, Sony Music refuse Michael the right to release it. Due to contract obligations, Michael Jackson can't release the record with another company without Sony's approval. Since Sony Music doesn't want to make things easy on an artist they are in constant fight with, they use the "What More Can I Give" project to pressure him. If he wants to release it, he has to let go on more financial interests. After trying each and every legal way to release his charity single, Michael Jackson finds out he is cornered and eventually gives up the project. -"Butterflies" is the third single off of INVINCIBLE to be released to radios in America. The song becomes and instant hit and starts to climb the Billboard charts. Unfortunately, Sony Music is still not willing to release the song commercially to help it reach the #1 spot on the charts. More problems occur when the project for a "Butterflies" video is discussed by Michael Jackson and Sony Music. Once again, Michael Jackson is not satisfied with the treatment Sony Music propose him and does not want to participate in a project he doesn't believe in. Discussions come to a deadlock and the "Butterflies" video project is scrapped. February 2002 - Sony Music intensifies its financial pressure on Michael Jackson. The artist is forced to consider doing a World Tour in order to raise money to finance his other projects and the refund of his loan. However, Michael Jackson had made it clear that he didn't want to tour anymore. Now, he's forced to reconsider his decision. March 2002 -Three promotional TV appearances scheduled in Europe in March are cancelled as a result of Michael Jackson's feud with Sony Music. -At Sony Music's request, director David Meyers works on a treatment for the "Unbreakable" video. However, Michael Jackson isn't satisfied with the project. But his own concept for the video is deemed too expensive and Sony Music won't finance it. As a result of this new dispute, Michael Jackson decides to produce the "Unbreakable" video by himself and starts to work on the project alone. -By the end of March, Sony Music delete Michael Jackson from their "international priority" list of projects. Only five months after the release of INVINCIBLE, the record company no longer considers the album as a “priority”. As a comparison, the HIStory album stopped being an "international priority" by the end of 1997, more than 2 years after its release. Sony Music are trying to suffocate Michael Jackson financially. They are preventing him from properly promoting his album in order to obtain his share of the ATV Music Publishing catalog. This manoeuvre is unfair. It is plain sabotage. INVINCIBLE is a great album. It sold faster than any other Michael Jackson album and was promised to a great future. MAKE INVINCIBLE VISIBLE! -- Michael Jackson Fan Club press release © 2001.

New Beatles biography : compulsively readable history
Associated Press, October 30, 2005 -- Ten hours, 28 minutes. That was the sum of the music recorded and released by the Beatles before breaking up, a volume of work that changed lives, careers and the course of music history. Eight years, 2,792 pages. That was the effort author Bob Spitz put into telling their story, although editors whittled his manuscript down to 856 pages (minus the end notes). "The Beatles: The Biography," available Nov. 1, is a compulsively readable history that brings the same exhaustive level of scholarship to the Fab Four that Robert Caro brought to Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. "The Beatles' story is all of our stories," says Spitz, 55, a manager for Bruce Springsteen and others before turning to writing. "It is about how the youth culture emerged, the drug culture emerged, how politics rose to the fore as a universal debate. It's about rebellion, it's about the growth of the British entertainment system, the growth of the rock 'n' roll entertainment system. "The Beatles changed music forever. They took rock 'n' roll from a medium that was about cars and girls and gave it context, interesting chord changes and true musicianship." Get the idea he's passionate about the subject? Spitz lived it, writing six days a week for six years, spending six months in Liverpool and retracing the Beatles' steps. He could practically smell the stale cigarette smoke from the old clubs, and even ordered the band's favorite scotch and Coke drinks just to taste what they had tasted. It almost makes up for the school yard beating that a teenage Spitz suffered for suggesting that the Beatles were no-talent bums who wouldn't last; he was an avid Bob Dylan fan at the time. He feels differently now. But his love and respect for the Beatles doesn't blind him as a writer; he draws a complete portrait of brilliant musicians who were human after all. Several initial reviews have been positive, and his publisher's first printing of nearly 200,000 copies is considered a positive sign of the biography's potential. The New York Times' Janet Maslin called it a "consolidating and newly illuminating work. For the right reader, that combination is irresistible." "As with all great history writing, Spitz both captures a moment in time and humanizes his subjects," wrote Publishers Weekly. "While some will blanch at the unsettling dark sides of the Beatles, most will come to appreciate the band even more for knowing the incredible personal odysseys they endured." Spitz's biography is one of four Beatles-related books in the stores this fall, including one each by both of John Lennon's wives. "I get a new Beatles book submitted almost every month, and sales are varied," said Kim Corradini, a buyer for Barnes & Noble Booksellers. "Books that offer something new — new revelations, new photos, an insider's view — do much better than those that are just rehashings." The project was daunting for more reasons than just the effort it entailed. There have been more Beatles books published than there are actual Beatles songs, and most fans have heard the same stories many times over. Spitz, who has written biographies of Dylan and Bob Marley, was assigned by The New York Times Magazine to write a story about Paul McCartney in 1996. At the time, McCartney was working on the Beatles' anthology project and told Spitz "they might as well call it the mythology, as only about 50 percent of it was true." Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr agreed on their version of the Beatles' story, a mix of truth and legend, and it formed the basis of what Spitz considers the band's only other serious biography, written by Hunter Davies four decades ago. Some of the stories were told so often that the lines between truth and fiction had even blurred for the surviving Beatles. Spitz set out to make the record straight. "I interviewed 650 people on this," he says. "I approached this book as if nobody had ever written a biography on the Beatles."McCartney cooperated, and so did Harrison before his death in 2001. Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono did not, and neither did Starr or Neil Aspinall, who used to drive the Beatles to gigs in Liverpool and now runs their business empire. Almost more important than his recollections was McCartney quietly putting the word out to dozens of former associates, many of whom had never spoken publicly about their roles, that it was OK to speak to Spitz. Spitz also tracked down new sources. In western Canada he found Dot Rohne, who nearly married McCartney and miscarried his baby before being dumped as the Beatles were on the cusp of making it big. Spitz so doggedly traces the band's family history, and depicts postwar Liverpool, that Lennon doesn't meet McCartney until page 95 of his book. "My book is not a book of dirty stories," Spitz says. "There are no shocking revelations. I wasn't looking for any and I didn't find any." Still, there are sublime details and myth-busters that good fans will enjoy, like producer George Martin leaving the recording of "Love Me Do" to an underling while he had a lunch date with his secretary. One much-repeated story is that future manager Brian Epstein first heard of the Beatles when a customer at his record store requested their recording of "My Bonnie" from Hamburg, Germany. In truth, he was already well aware of them — their posters hung in his store and Epstein, who was gay, secretly liked their rough-boys-in-leather image. Spitz opens with a detailed scene from Dec. 27, 1960, a Liverpool performance where the Beatles' improvement after a lengthy residence in Germany so startled and thrilled their hometown audience that it presaged the impact they would have on the world three years later. Spitz even reports the brand of popular hairspray whose scent lingered in the air. He was struck by the extraordinary tight bond the four men created, personally and musically. Even during their unpleasant breakup, they still loved each other, he says. Spitz believes the split was less because of the influence of Ono than the fact that Lennon and Harrison couldn't stand to be in the room with McCartney anymore. The flip side is how completely, even ruthlessly, the four men would freeze out anyone they no longer had use for, as drummer Pete Best most famously found out. The project was an intense time in Spitz's life. He and his wife have split and he says his daughter thinks dad has a mop tops obsession. "It turned my life inside out," he says. "Yet I must say it was the most incredible and pleasurable experience I ever had." Spitz is involved in one more Beatles-related project: writing a version of his biography for young readers. "It's sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll," he says, "without the sex and drugs."

Yoko Ono apologizes for McCartney dig
Canadian Press, November 04, 2005 -- NEW YORK -- Yoko Ono has apologized to Paul McCartney for insinuating that his songs are trite. Accepting an award on behalf of John Lennon last month, Ono said Lennon had sometimes felt insecure about his songs, asking "why they always cover Paul's songs and never mine." "I said, 'You're a good songwriter, it's not June with spoon that you write."' After reports of the apparent slight circulated, Ono apologized in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, now on newsstands. "I certainly did not mean to hurt Paul, and if I did, I am very sorry," she says. McCartney has sometimes clashed with Ono, Lennon's widow. She objected when McCartney reversed the traditional "Lennon-McCartney" songwriting credit on his 2002 album, Back in the U.S. Ono's spokesman accused him of attempting to "rewrite history." McCartney had earlier complained that Ono wouldn't let him take credit for Yesterday, a song written entirely by McCartney.

'All You Need' is $1 Million for Beatles Manuscript

by VOA News 29 July 2005 -- A handwritten manuscript of the Beatles' hit song, "All You Need Is Love," has sold for over $1 million at an auction in London. John Lennon used the song sheet during the Beatles' last live television appearance in 1967. Film of the performance shows the manuscript falling to the floor as the group finished playing. The hastily scribbled copy of the song's lyrics was one of 12 lots of John Lennon memorabilia at the sale Thursday. The million-dollar buyer was not identified; the auction house said the seller was an American who has been collecting Beatles material for 25 years, since Lennon was shot to death in New York in 1980.

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