Julian Lennon has sold what has been reported as a "significant stake" of his share in his late father's publishing royalty rights to US music publishing firm Primary Wave in a deal which will also see the publishing company manage Lennon Junior's own future compositions.
Publishing control of the Beatles catalogue lies, somewhat controversially of course, with the Sony/ATV, the joint venture between Sony Corp and, for the time being at least, Michael Jackson ("controversially" in that Jackson outbid Paul McCartney for control of ATV back in 1985, something that has niggled Macca ever since).
But while the Beatles lost control of their publishing catalogue to ATV and subsequently Jackson and Sony (and therefore the right to say where and when their songs are used or recorded), they still receive a royalty from the compositions. Since his death, John Lennon's publishing royalties have been split between Yoko Ono and his two sons, Julian and Sean, and it is a stake in that share that Julian Lennon has sold to Primary Wave for an undisclosed but probably pretty substantial sum. Primary Wave won't get any control over the music, just a share of the royalties it generates. The publishing firm will also manage and market Julian Lennon's planned new music project as part of the deal.
It's not the first deal Primary Wave has done with the beneficiary of a legendary musician's estate. They were the company who paid an estimated $50 million to Courtney Love last year for a 50% stake in the Kurt Cobain publishing catalogue.
Confirming the new deal, Primary Wave CEO Larry Mestel told reporters: "We are thrilled to be partnering with Julian Lennon and to own a piece of music history", while Lennon himself added: "I felt it was the appropriate time to take on a partner for both my interest in my father's legendary music and for my future music endeavours".