Subafilms Limited and Apple Corps Ltd., the London based company owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and the estate of George Harrison, was sued September 12, 2016, for copyright infringement on use of footage from the 1965 Beatles’ concert at Shea Stadium.
This lawsuit arose from a Ron Howard-directed documentary, Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years, where Beatles’ fans will be able to see remastered footage of the band playing concerts, including the famous concert performed at Shea Stadium.
Sid Bernstein, known as the “The Man Who Brought the Beatles to America,” passed away in 2013; Sid Bernstein Presents, LLC (SBP) is the assignee of the late producer’s intellectual property rights and is the company representing him in this case. The lawsuit alleges that Bernstein was the sole owner of the master tapes as he was the producer of the event and employer for hire of the Beatles. “Without Sid, the mastermind of the event, this film would never have been made,” the Plaintiff stated. “The Bernstein Family is guided by their father’s spirit of peace and humanity. However, they are also guided by principle and look forward to having an opportunity to present their case in court.” The lawsuit has asked for an injunction to prevent the footage from being viewed, distributed or reproduced but did not request a preliminary injunction which allowed the film to still be shown in theaters.
Prior to the 1965 concert, Sid Bernstein presented Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, and Ed Sullivan Productions, the company who filmed the concert, with a contract that provided Epstein’s company, Nems Enterprises, Ltd. (Nems), the rights to film and record the performances of the Beatles and the supporting acts. Although SBP admits to this deal, they deny the legality of the copyright and allege the master tapes were used without consent by Nems and Sullivan Productions in a 1967, production of “The Beatles at Shea Stadium” and in a 1995 television broadcast of “The Beatles Anthology”, and that sole ownership of the footage belonged to Bernstein. Records from the United States Copyright Office indicate that Nems acquired all right, title and interest, including copyright in the movie pursuant to an agreement made between Nems and Sullivan Productions, but not with Sid Bernstein.
In July of 2016, SBP submitted an application to the United States Copyright Office to register its ownership of copyrights in the master tapes of the Shea Stadium performance. The application was rejected because SBP was not in possession of the master tapes and the Copyright Office cannot accept a copy of the “infringing” work as deposit material.
The lawsuit stated “[b]y reason of being the producer of and having made creative contributions to the 1965 Shea Stadium performance, as well as being the employer for hire of the Beatles and the opening acts, who performed at his instance and expense, Sid Bernstein was the dominant, and hence sole, author of the copyrightable work embodied in the Master Tapes, and the sole owner of all exclusive rights therein.”
Apple Corps’ lawyer Paul Licalsi said “[T]he suit is entirely frivolous and that Bernstein’s agreement with the Beatles at the time explicitly barred him from any filming rights and a copy of the deal will prove it.”
The case is Sid Bernstein Presents LLC v. Apple Corps Ltd., 1:16-cv-07084, U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York (Manhattan).