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Beatles sue record companies for £13.2m

The Beatles 
Capitol Album Volume 2 Cover

The Beatles Capitol Album Volume 2 Cover

EMI and Capitol's appeal thrown out

The Beatles are to sue their record companies for £13.2 million.

They claim that EMI and its affiliate Capitol are guilty of fraudulent behaviour, specifically, filtering off royalties that should have gone to the band.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of the late John Lennon and George Harrison have been allowed by a judge at the New York Supreme Court to go ahead with the lawsuit.

The case alleges that the labels classified copies of Beatles recordings as destroyed or damaged ‘scrap’, but then sold them, thus claiming the royalties for themselves.

It is also alleged that ‘promotional’ material, which is normally royalty-free, was sold by the companies.

EMI and Capitol, however, claim that the allegations lack sufficient detail of the circumstances surrounding the supposed fraudulent behaviour.

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