Sony/ATV Urges Judge to Drop Beatles Documentary Lawsuit…
Ace Arts originally sued Sony/ATV and Apple Corps for $100 million, accusing them of conspiring to block the release of their Beatles documentary. The issue revolved around copyright of the compositions used in concert footage from 1964. In a nutshell: the rights were ultimately blocked; the documentary blocked with it. Ace cried foul.
Which brings us to a nasty lawsuit, already in progress. Last we heard, Ace Arts accused Sony/ATV and the Beatles’ Apple Corps of circumventing this lawsuit. Basically, Ace heard Sony and Apple Corps were filing a claim against them in London, which would upstage Ace’s lawsuit in New York.
Now, Sony/ATV has urged a New York federal judge to dismiss Ace’s entire lawsuit.
Right on cue, Sony says there’s already a copyright infringement case in the UK that will address the issue. The publishing giant further claims that the blocking of the documentary was completely lawful, and this all boils down to an issue of copyrighted compositions. They also claim that no conspiracy took place.
Source: Digital Music News