Apple Corps sued over Shea Stadium film rights - UPDATE

Apple Corps is being sued over rights to the Beatles Shea Stadium concert film just as it is set to accompany screenings of Ron Howard's new documentary about the group's touring years.

Sid Bernstein Presents LLC, a company representing the interests of the late promoter who organized the 1965 Shea concert depicted in the film, claims it, not Apple, has rights to the footage. 

Reuters reports:

Sid Bernstein, who died in 2013, was a promoter who helped bring the Beatles to the United States from their native Britain.

The complaint said he also helped stage the group's Aug. 15, 1965, performance at Shea, and arranged for TV variety show host Ed Sullivan's production company to film it.

But the plaintiff, which said it was assigned Bernstein's rights, said the group's manager, Brian Epstein, took custody of the "Master Tapes" and began using them without seeking consent.

UPDATE: Apple has responded in a Bloomberg Tech story:
The suit is entirely frivolous, Apple Corps’ New York lawyer Paul Licalsi said in an interview. 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 easily, he said.
"Mr. Bernstein never made any claim for the film for nearly 50 years until he died," Licalsi said.
No word, yet, on any change in plans to screen the film, which is set to accompany screenings of Howard's "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years" in theaters this week before it beings streaming on Hulu Sept. 17.

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