James Paul McCartney (TV special) ATV network in order to settle his two-year legal dispute with Sir Lew Grade. As the owner of the network and its music publishing division – and, by extension, the Beatles' Northern Songs catalogue – Grade had objected to McCartney crediting his wife Linda as his co-writer since 1971, citing her lack of professional experience as a songwriter and musician. McCartney's commitment to the television project allowed him to retain the second composer's publishing royalties, which otherwise would have been assigned to Grade's company. "James Paul McCartney" was McCartney's first such special since the Beatles' 1967 television film "Magical Mystery
Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now perhaps surprisingly, retain 75 per cent of the royalties, meaning it was really going to be Paul's book". Their interviews coincided with McCartney reuniting with his former bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr to work on the "Beatles Anthology" project. The publication was further delayed due to his wife Linda McCartney's deteriorating condition after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 1995. "Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now" was first published in the United Kingdom on 2 October 1997 by Secker & Warburg. McCartney promoted it on 12 October during an interview with Michael Parkinson on the BBC Radio