Sony Corp. won a U.K. court
ruling blocking a documentary-maker from showing a movie about the
Beatles’ first concert in the U.S.
The film by WPMC Ltd. about the 1964 performance in Washington called
“The Beatles: The Lost Concert,” infringed Sony’s copyrights in the
U.K. and the U.S., according to a ruling in London Wednesday. Sony owns
the worldwide copyrights to eight songs in the concert, including “From
Me to You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” Judge Richard Arnold said.
The concert, shown in cinemas and theaters across America as part of a
90-minute package with performances by the Beach Boys and Lesley Gore,
took place a few months after the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy and helped spark “Beatlemania” in the U.S. What happened to the
master tapes after the show “is unclear,” Arnold said.
The songs “are reproduced in their entirety; the extent of the
reproduction is excessive having regard to the transformative purpose;
and the permit such use would likely damage the market for, or potential
value of,” the songs, Arnold said in the ruling.
Calls to Sony and lawyers for the company and WPMC weren’t immediately returned.
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