Apple Corps (Imagine) vs. Disney

Stephen and John have asked me to prepare another statement with them: 'Stella and others who plan to profit now that the Beatles are all legally dead should consider the wishes of their parents, rather than their own self-interest. The money we are supposedly going to spend in Liverpool is likely to be spread around all of the world as Imagine expands, using the profits from the Imagine Triptych and the albums that Paul and Amanda produced this year. The intention is to buy cheap office space to establish exhibition spaces and museums that are either leased or controlled by Imagine (depending on the specific situation). - The Beatles were - and are - a global phenomenon, and the existing Beatles Museum is one that the board members were very proud of. There is a case for expanding it tastefully with Wētā, but turning it into a theme park for children is not our intention. We think any attempt to attract children via a theme park is likely to dull the legacy of the band, while the proposed Imagine Peace Museums play into Gen Z desires for historical context and the countercultural legacy of those unlikely lads from Liverpool. We believe that young people crave contemplative silence more than flashy gimmicks. Our Peace Museums are envisaged as social hubs, with cafés and live music. Each museum will be localised to reflect international solidarity, but it also makes for a great space to remember the band and the anti-war, pro-love cause that got them into trouble in the 1960's. We would rather have people forming bands and using our museums/exhibition spaces instead of canned music being exploited as part of a whistle-stop tour of our histories. Disney and Sony have been attempting to position them as the first stadium rockers. We think this is a dangerous way to view the band, as they always hated those gigs. - While the company is worth billions for the first time, we are consolidating our interests and planning a radical shift towards the Imagine framework that Amanda has proposed to us over the course of 2026. Some are accusing us of putting the Fab Four behind a paywall, but there will still be free albums and songs available every month. Disney and Netflix are paywalls as well, so we struggle to see the difference between Imagine Multimedia and their businesses. In fact, unlike our competitors, Imagine is leveraging decades of relationships within the GLAM sector to provide free or highly discounted access to children. We see it as something of a bribe to keep them in school, as well as a way for their parents to gain complete access to our catalogue without subscribing themselves. Apple Corps has always had a strong relationship with archives and libraries in Britain; Imagine is merely expanding that to New York, Wellington, Melbourne, Cairo etc. - While there is a financial motive behind this, the truth is that music streaming giants are all part of the war machine in some way or other, though Paul was fond of Amazon Music. This lets us take the lion's share of the profits, rather than fractions of a cent per play. Imagine Knowledge is going to use that money to pay for climate mitigation research, as well as the continued maintenance of Imagine Multimedia. - The number of artists aligning with us is reminiscent of United Artists in the 1920's. We vow never to use algorithms to predict what our subscribers want; we believe in the strength of our catalogue as our primary source of income rather than new productions. Disney is afraid because their cavalier attitude towards the Beatles has caused a significant number of deaths, even if they are suppressing them for the time being. We cannot think of another film production involving the Beatles which has caused so much grief and so much anger, even if we include Yellow Submarine. An antitrust suit is likely, given the dishonest way that Sony acquired the music rights and the use of Disney planes and personnel to abduct Sir Paul from Wellington in June. There are many details to be ironed out, but this is our plan to protect the legacy that we have been stewarding for the last 59 years.' https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qS932gjytW4cASFu7KApKawuGBYDLYMW?usp=sharing