royalties

As everyone and his/her dog knows, I'm a Beatles fan. In fact, if it was warranted, I'd probably easily pass a Masters degree in Beatleology. It's that simple. For me. So. I. Say.

So I'm more than a little annoyed that the band have decided re-release FOR A THIRD TIME the "1962-1966" / "1967-1970" compilation albums.

The music on these albums is timeless, I can't complain about that at all. But these collections were originally released on superior vinyl back in 1973. Then they were "digitally-remastered" for CD release in 1993. And now, 17 years later, they've been "digitally-remastered" again to further the Beatles already huge bank balance.

In fairness to the Fabs, there is some method to their madness in that by 2012 the fifty-year restriction on their UK copyrights becomes redundant, meaning that both the songs "Love Me Do" and "PS I Love You" come under public domain which will deny the band their songwriting royalties. In 2013 this ruling extends to "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". And so on......

I do take Paul McCartney's point in that he wrote "Yesterday" completely on his own and yet is pissed off he only receives 15% of the songwriting royalty payment on it - so it's unfair in that respect. The contracts the Beatles signed in the early 1960s are still in force today.

So expect more Beatles activity in the next year. I know Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia have to save a little for their pensions but this is ridiculous......