Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson,
the two recorded several duets together in the early 1980s.
Among them included the chart topping say,
say, say, and the girl is mine, the latter being the first of a string
of hits Jackson achieved with the commercial juggernaut Thriller
album The Girl Is Mine chronicles a playful
exchange between the former Beatle and the new Peter Pan of Pop,
a make believe rivalry between the two pop stars over the affections of a girl.
Three years later, McCartney and Jackson
would lock horns in a real life battle, but not over a girl.
Music brought McCartney and Jackson together, but it also tore them apart
when, in 1985, Jackson purchased the contentious ATV
catalog, which included the publishing rights for nearly all of the Beatles hits,
when once Jackson was McCartney's protege in which he took under his wing.
Now he was the icon's publisher
and architect of McCartney's own musical legacy.
This is the story of the two pop icon's
initial connection and musical alliance and how it soon grew sour after the major
acquisition had the two feuded publicly over several uses of the Beatles music,
money and ultimate control over the catalog.
The background, the two originally met in the late 1970s
after Michael Jackson recorded McCartney's track girlfriend McCartney thought
of girlfriend as a song that Michael Jackson might like to record
and mention this to Jackson at a party in Hollywood.
Jackson had stated in interviews
with the music press that he was a fan of the Beatles and the chance to record
a McCartney original helped inspire him to record more solo tracks.
However, before Jackson was able
to release the track, McCartney ended up recording it himself
with his band Wings, and it was issued in 1978 on the album
London Town, when Michael Jackson's producer, Quincy Jones, heard the song.
He suggested it as a possible track for Jackson to record,
not yet aware that the song had been written for Jackson in the first place.
As a result, the song was included as part
of Jackson's 1979 solo breakthrough Off the Wall.
In 1981, Michael Jackson decided to collaborate with Paul McCartney again,
writing and recording several songs together, recording in London.
Jackson stayed at the home of McCartney
and his wife, Linda, becoming friendly with both.
The two spent several days at the famed Abbey Road Studios.
Most days, the two would throw ideas back and forth while Paul sat at the piano.
Michael usually ate dinner at Paul's house, a tutor style residence on nearly
1000 acres an hour's drive from the heart of London.
McCartney would later go on record to say that one of the conversations he had
with Jackson was how a musician could actually make a lot of money.
One night, Paul showed Michael a thick bound notebook filled with song titles.
He had bought Michael never one to hide.
His emotions became more excited as he turned the pages.
Since the Beatles broke up in 1970,
McCartney had become a major music publisher himself by buying the rights
to hundreds of songs, including such standards as Autumn Leaves,
Sentimental Journey and Stormy Weather, as well as all the songs by Buddy Holly.
Paul McCartney learned that music publishing could potentially be a goldmine
the hard way when he and John Lennon lost their own copyrights for the Beatles music
while facing tax problems in Britain in the 1960s.
And in order to avoid paying 90 percent
on their earnings, they were advised to sell their publishing
rights outright or form a public corporation to deflects the tax burden.
So they established Northern songs and then took the company public in 1967
with shares trading on the London Stock Exchange.
A large factor in the Beatles breakup was
when their publisher, Dick James, sold his share of Northern songs
to Britain's Associated Television ATV in 1969.
Neither the Beatles nor their managers
were able to prevent this, meaning that they lost control
of the company and thus control over their own copyrights.
After the Beatles example,
the rule for songwriters became Never sell your publishing,
explained Marshall Gelfand, show biz accountant and business manager.
Quote, You've got to remember that when
the Beatles started, nobody in this business owned their own publishing.
It wasn't until the mid 60s when artists like Bob Dylan and the Beatles started
recording their own songs and selling millions of albums.
Then advisers began to understand
the importance of holding on to your own publishing.
However, one common misconception about the Beatles music is that McCartney
in the Lennon Estate no longer collect royalties on their songs.
They, in fact split the songwriting
revenue with the publisher, the Lennon Estate and McCartney as
co-writer divide about 50 percent of that income.
And then the publisher collects the other 50 percent.
However, the publisher normally controls the use of songs and films,
commercials and stage productions, meaning that McCartney, as an individual,
had very little say on how the Beatles music could be used in future projects
and therefore lacked any kind of control over his and the group's ongoing legacy.
Michael Jackson wrote in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk.
Paul and I had both learned the hard way about business and the importance
of publishing and royalties and the dignity of songwriting.
The deal soon after Michael Jackson met
with his attorney, John Branca, and told him,
I want to buy some copyrights like Paul, and over the next three years,
he bought several collections of music publishing rights.
At first, he only wanted songs that meant a lot to him.
So he declined to bid on all but three of the 40 catalogs presented to him over
this period, costing Michael less than one million dollars.
But when Michael Jackson's next
LP Thriller skyrocketed the artists to new heights and became the best selling album
of all time, the success significantly boosted Jackson's own personal wealth.
And by 1985, Jackson had reportedly earned
more than 50 million from music royalties alone.
With cheques piling in, Jackson instructed Broncho to find more
large scale investments for his newfound fortune.
But by the beginning of 1984, Jackson was engulfed in setting up
the Jacksons victory tour, and the matter of catalogs had faded
into the background until a September meeting with John Branca in Philadelphia.
And this meeting,
Branca told Michael that the infamous ATV catalog had become available and asked
whether he would be interested upon hearing this.
Jackson did a full turn, jumped in the air and shrieked.
I want it, please.
Michael sent out strictly to buy the music copyrights, but the package on offer
included buildings, a recording studio and some studio
equipment and a life insurance policy on Paul McCartney.
Northern songs had taken out insurance
policies on all of its principal owners, a common business practice,
that means there was also a policy on John Lennon and presumably ATV
collected that when Lennon was tragically assassinated in 1980.
McCartney reportedly made offers to ATV over the years.
But according to those close
to the Jackson ATV negotiations, he was not a serious bidder.
Recently, McCartney wanted his own songs, but perhaps was not willing to pay
for thousands of other copyrights in the ATV catalog.
The Beatles portion of the collection alone was estimated by one source to be
worth about two thirds of the purchase price
previously. Paul's people once told one of the ATV
officers that their client was interested in buying the copyrights,
but that he didn't want to go through lengthy negotiations.
They said, in effect,
you go out and get your best offer and will pay 10 percent more.
So when Michael showed up, knowing he's a friend of Paul's ATV
suspected his bid is just a way for Paul to avoid paying the extra 10 percent.
It took a long time to convince ATV that Michael was, in fact, acting on his own.
Once the deal was finally complete and the news hit the press.
McCartney recalls that, quote,
Someone rang me up and said, Michael's bought your songs.
I think it's dodgy to do things like that,
to be someone's friend and then buy the rug they're standing on.
Michael tried to phone McCartney
and discuss the matter, but every time he did, Paul hung up on them.
Finally, Michael ultimately said,
Paul's got a real problem and I'm finished trying to be a nice guy.
Too bad for him.
I get the songs and that's the end of it.
The impact as soon as Michael made the purchase,
he and his representatives investigated ways to make it pay off for him.
He hired people to develop an anthology
series and four films using the Beatles music.
He also planned to produce musical greeting cards and music boxes.
But when he licensed the song Revolution
to Nike for a sneaker ad, he obtained Yoko Ono consent, but not Paul McCartney's.
In fact, McCartney, like many Beatles fans,
was incensed because he felt Michael was cheapening the music and the end.
McCartney had to accept Michael's
decision, quote, I have no question of him owning it.
It was perfectly for sale, fair, square and all board.
But when Michael Jackson licensed
the song, All You Need Is Love to Panasonic for 240000 dollars,
McCartney contacted him and told him he was going too far.
But from Michael's point of view, he felt that by using the Beatles songs
in commercials, he was enabling the music to reach a new generation of fans who will
buy the Beatles records in the future, quote.
Well, I don't like the idea
that Michael Jackson is the only guy in the world who gets to sit in judgment
as to which Beatles songs can be used in commercials.
Paul countered, He's drawn up a list.
I don't see how he should have that power.
Paul McCartney said he had hoped that all you need is love would remain an anthem
of the 1960s, not become a jingle for, quote, a friggin loudspeaker system.
And I also don't want good day sunshine
to become an Oreo cookie, he complained, which I understand he's done.
And I think that's real cheesy.
I don't think Michael needs the money. I don't.
And Yoko doesn't either.
In 1990, Paul and Michael met to discuss what Paul called this problem.
McCartney recalled the conversation.
I put it to him this way.
When we signed our deal, John and I didn't even know what publishing was.
We thought songs would like the air.
Everyone owned them.
These days, even kids know better than that last year.
Yesterday, past the five million plays Mark in America, which no other song has
ever done, not even a white Christmas, but no one has ever come up to me
and said, Hey, man, I really think you need a bonus.
You've done great for this company.
So what the hell is going on?
You mean I've got to be content for the rest of my life to be on this deal?
I signed when I was a fresh faced 20 year
old, Michael acted as though he didn't understand what Paul was saying.
So Paul spelled it out for him.
Quote, I wanted him to recognize in the deal that I'm a big writer for this
company that he now owns, McCartney recalled.
Michael told Paul that he didn't want
to hurt anyone, and McCartney said he was happy to hear that Michael promised
that he'd try to work something out for the former Beatle.
The next day, John Eastman,
Paul's attorney, telephoned John Branca and told him that Paul and Michael had
agreed to renegotiate a higher writers' royalty for his songs.
Ron could check with Michael, quote, Heck, no, I didn't tell Paul that.
Michael said he's not getting a higher
royalty unless I get something back from him.
In return,
Branca passed Michael's decision on to Paul's attorney, quote, Then we'll sue.
Eastman threatened.
Hey, be my guest, Branca told him.
A former employee of bronchus recalled that when Branca told Michael that Paul
might sue, Michael scoffed, quote, Let them sue.
Meanwhile, go licensed some more songs, Baranca.
Let's go out there and make some money.
Let's run this thing like a business.
An associate of Michael's previously
stated quote, privately, Michael's feeling is this.
Paul McCartney had multiple chances to buy
the company, but he was too cheap to spend the money.
Mind you, Paul is said to be the richest entertainer in the world.
The man is worth about 560 million.
His royalties in one year comes to 41 million dollars.
As Mike told me, if he didn't want to invest forty seven
point five million in his own songs, then he shouldn't come crying to me now.
Yoko Ono was pleased that Jackson had
acquired Northern songs and called it a blessing.
Speaking in November 1990, Ono stated, quote, Businessmen who aren't artists
themselves wouldn't have the consideration Michael has.
He loves the songs. He's very caring.
She added that if she and McCartney were
to own the songs, there would certainly be arguments.
Ono explained that neither she nor McCartney needed that quote.
If Paul got the songs, people would have said Paul finally got
John and if I got them, they'd say, Oh, the dragon lady strikes again.
Later, dealings after many years, Paul McCartney was asked about the subject
again and he told The New York Post in 2006 that he'd resented Jackson
for the wealth that Lennon McCartney songbook had brought him.
McCartney would often complain about
having to pay every time he performed his songs like Hey Jude.
And Yesterday,
when the world was stunned
by Michael Jackson's sudden death in 2009, many new headlines involving the Beatles
catalog emerged, sparked by a rumor that Jackson intended
to, in his will, return the song's rights back to McCartney.
However, Paul McCartney said there was never any arrangement.
Quote, The media came up with this idea that Michael Jackson was going to leave
his share in the Beatles songs to me in his will.
McCartney said it was completely made up.
The report is that I am devastated to find that he didn't leave the songs to me.
This is completely untrue.
I had not thought for one minute that the original report about the will was true.
In fact, Jackson may scarcely have had any of the Beatles back catalogue left.
Reports have shown that by the time of his death, Jackson had sold all but five
percent of his remaining 25 percent share of the now merged Sony ATV catalog
in an attempt to improve his financial situation during his later years since
Jackson's passing, McCartney says his resentment has faded with time.
Quote, I got off that years ago.
It was something for a while I was very keen on.
And you can see why naturally for these sort of things can eat you up.
McCartney admitted that he remained hurt
over the acquisition, but spoke highly of Jackson,
nevertheless calling him a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul.
I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael.
Thank you for watching the detail.
Check out our Channel four more Michael Jackson videos and also visit our
M.J. store by clicking our link in the description.
We'll see you next time.