Context
Capitol Records, a unit of EMI and sister label to the Beatles' record label Parlophone, had first refusal rights to any material released by an EMI label. Capitol in the US repeatedly turned down the Beatles for most of 1963, so the Beatles' first two singles of that year, as well as an altered version of their British debut album Please Please Me , were released by Vee-Jay Records. Vee-Jay was a small company with few resources, and as a result of little publicity or promotion, the records sold poorly. Vee-Jay lost the rights to the Beatles' music over nonpayment of royalties, and the smaller Swan Records received the rights to issue the "She Loves You" single.
After the Beatles were booked to perform on the popular Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, Capitol finally exercised its option and signed a deal with the Beatles in November 1963. In a legal settlement with Capitol, Vee-Jay received rights to market the Beatles recordings they possessed until 10 October 1964, at which point all rights to all EMI Beatle recordings in the United States would be assigned to Capitol Records.
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