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Now that Michael Jackson has died, who gets control of all those Beatle songs that he bid so much for?

MJ out bid Paul McCartney for the entire Beatles catalog several years ago.

McCartney never owned them cause their early manager, Brian Epstein, signed away the rights for ALL songs created by the Beatles to Northern Songs Inc.

One of the main reasons for breaking up the Beatles (among other larger issues) was to get control of any future songs that the talented trio (John, George, Paul) created in the future...themselves.

Paul has never forgiven Epstein for signing away their rights so easily... and has called it one of the worst business decisions ever!

(Second worst is when the Beach Boys' dad signed away all their copyrights from Surf City music for cash when times were tight. They never forgave him.)

So, who gets them now? Do you think Michael will have left them to Paul & Ringo in his will? Will Jacko do the right thing by his former friends?

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    I was discussing this with friends last night, and the prevailing guess is that, since MJ only owned half of the publishing rights (with Sony/ATV owning the other half), they will go up on the auction block.

    However, NME says that, "Reports earlier this year suggested that Jackson had planned to leave the rights to McCartney in his will." (http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/45634) I think this may indeed happen (but Sony will still own the other half, of course).

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