Northern Songs and MacLen Music sue Paul and Linda McCartney

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On this day, Northern Songs Ltd and MacLen Music Ltd announced they were suing Paul and Linda McCartney for $1,050,000, claiming a violation of Paul’s “exclusive rights agreement” with those companies, as their recent song, “Another Day“, was credited to both Paul and Linda.

Because Linda wasn’t trained at the Guildhall, Northern Songs think it must mean she can’t write. But she knows more about music… Look, she’s a rocker from way back. She was at the Paramount Theatre watching, on the same bill, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, and Chuck Berry. She knows about music.

The thing is, look at it seriously. Northern Songs has got me under contract. I start writing with someone whom they don’t have under contract – and they don’t accept it. Now we ought to have an equal share of the song. But you try to tell Sir Lew Grade that – he’s bought the company – and it doesn’t work…

Paul McCartney – From Record Mirror, December 4, 1971

Court move over latest hit by Paul McCartney

A move by Northern Songs Ltd for a High Court order against Chappell and Co. Lld, in a dispute over publication rights to Beatle Paul McCartney’s current hit, “Another Day”, was adjourned today.

The hearing was to have been before a judge sitting in private at the High Court today, but the parties agreed to an adjournment. A new date for the hearing has been provisionally agreed for April 6.

Chappels claim they published the song as sole United Kingdom agent of McCartney Inc., while Paul and his wife Linda recently set up in America.

The claim is contested by Northern Songs, a subsidiary of Associated Television who seek an order to prevent Chappells publishing the song.

From Aberdeen Evening Express – March 23, 1971

Last updated on August 2, 2023