He may be one of the most respected songwriters of all time, but believe it or not, Paul McCartney doesn’t actually own the rights to many of his most famous works. That’s a somewhat sad reality of the music industry, but it might soon change for the former Beatle.
Because of a stipulation in the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, McCartney has a chance to get back (that’s a Beatles joke for any fans reading) the rights to some, but not all, of the songs he wrote and made famous. According to the law, 56 years after songs that were written pre-1978 debuted, the original writer can petition to regain control over the publishing rights, no matter who owns them at the time. That limit is coming up soon for many of the tracks that McCartney wrote early on in his career, and he seems intent on collecting what is his.
Source: Forbes