I read the news today... carefully
Analysis by Martin Lewis
There are so many mistaken and misleading Beatles "news" stories in the mass media.
These kinds of stories are woefully confusing to fans. Apart from the
fact that many of them cite unnamed sources which is usually (though
not always) a bad sign - stories about Beatles recordings frequently
misuse music industry terminology. Words such as "song" "track"
"recording" and "composition" are used interchangeably - though they
have different legal meanings. And since there are different rights
inherent in any album - eg the rights in the recording of a song are
totally different from the rights in the song composition itself - this
causes confusion to many fans.
The news article entitled Paul McCartney scraps Loves Songs album that What Goes On carried from the Contact News web site yesterday is a prime example.
Here are a couple of glaring factual errors: (Text in italics are quotes from the original article)
he reportedly couldn't get clearance to re-record
FAB FOUR classics for the album.
There is NO permission needed from anyone to "re-record" songs once
they have had a first commercial release - which of course all these
songs had. As long as the record company pays the standard
"mechanical" royalty - the music publisher cannot withhold permission
from an artist recording a song. And no one but a music publisher has
a say in the rights of a SONG. (As opposed to the rights in the TAPE
RECORDING of a song - which are owned by the copyright owners of the
master tapes.)
the group's company would have to unanimously
agree on the songs' addition on any release.
What this person meant to say was that the company would have to agree
on the INCLUSION of BEATLES RECORDINGS (not songs) on any release.
In other words - McCartney would be free to include any of his own SOLO
recordings of any of the songs he wrote and recorded with the Beatles.
He could record brand new versions of those new songs.
But if he or Ringo - or Yoko on behalf of John, Olivia on behalf of
George - wish to include a RECORDING that was legally made or released
under the name the Beatles (irrespective of how many or how few
individual band members performed on the track) on any product that is
not solely a Beatles product (such as an album that is primarily a solo
album) - then such a decision would require the permission of all four
owners of Apple (the company that controls the Beatles recordings.)
That would apply if say Ringo wanted to include the Beatles version of
"Yellow Submarine" on a Ringo solo compilation or Yoko wanted to
include the Beatles version of "Help!" on a John solo compilation.
It's not to say that they CAN'T obtain such permission - but it does
need to be unanimous among the four owners of Apple.
By the way - everything that has been in the media recently so far on
this topic has been speculative. There has not been an official
statement from any of the people involved. Maybe some or all of the
story is true. Maybe it isn't. But we really don't know. It's all
speculative.
Incidentally - some people refer to a couple of albums that they say
were occasions where this did happen for George and John. And they
wonder if that doesn't make it unfair that Paul has not been given this
same permission now that HE (allegedly) wants to use some Beatles
recordings on a solo compilation album.
But the two albums usually referred to both derive from different
circumstances.
The 1976 compilation album "The Best Of George Harrison" contained 7
Beatles tracks written and sung by George - and 6 George solo tracks.
However this album was first compiled and released during the long
period between 1970 and 1986 when the Beatles individually - and Apple
as a corporation - were unsuccessful in insisting on EMI/Capitol
respecting their wishes on such matters. Following the 1986 settlement
of multiple long-standing disputes between Apple and EMI/Capitol - new
compilation albums were not created without Apple permission.
The 1988 soundtrack album "Imagine: John Lennon" contained 9 Beatles
tracks written and sung by John - and 12 John solo tracks.
But this of course was NOT a John solo album. It was the soundtrack
album of a documentary film. And the individual members and Apple all
gave permission for the use of the Beatles recordings in the film and
on the soundtrack album.
So, Beatles fans need to remember that Beatles news stories they read in the mass media sometimes require careful reading and analysis.
Published February 4, 2005
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