Here’s why this is fascinating. The story shows how broken the music business used to be—and how it’s slowly changing. In the 1960s, bands like the Beatles signed contracts that gave away their publishing rights for pennies. They were young, trusting, and didn’t have smartphones to Google “what’s a publishing right?”
Today, artists like Taylor Swift fight to own their masters. She even re-recorded her old albums to stick it to the guy who bought them. That’s a direct line back to the Beatles’ drama. It’s like history repeating, but with better hair and social media.
So Who Holds the Rights Right Now?
As of 2026, the situation is a legal lasagna. Sony/ATV owns the publishing for most of the catalog (songs like “Hey Jude”). However, in 2017, Paul McCartney won back the rights to 32 songs in the U.S. thanks to a copyright law that lets creators reclaim work after 56 years. He’s slowly chewing through the rest.
Paul McCartney launches legal bid reclaim rights to Beatles songs
But here’s the kicker: the master recordings (the original tapes) are owned by Universal Music Group. So you have one company owning the sheet music, another owning the recordings. It’s like owning the recipe but not the restaurant.
