The estate of Leonard Cohen has sold his song rights to a company run by a fellow Canadian.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund acquired the rights to 278 songs penned by the late Montreal native, including classics like “Hallelujah” and “First We Take Manhattan.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it gives the UK-based company the “songwriter’s share” of Cohen’s songs up until 2000 and both songwriter’s and publisher’s shares for songs he wrote between 2001 and 2016.
“To now be the custodians and managers of Leonard Cohen’s incomparable songs is a wonderful yet very serious responsibility that we approach with excitement and fully understand the importance of,” said Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis, in a statement.
“Leonard wrote words and songs that have changed our lives, none more so obvious than ‘Hallelujah’ but there are so many more that we look forward to reminding the world of on a daily basis. He is revered all over the globe because of the magnitude of his work.”
Mercuriadis was born in Quebec and raised in Nova Scotia.
The Hipgnosis portfolio includes the catalogues of artists like Enrique Iglesias, 50 Cent, The Chainsmokers, Shakira and Lindsay Buckingham as well as Canada’s Neil Young and Bob Rock.
Cohen, who died in 2016, was survived by son Adam and daughter Lorca. The Leonard Cohen Family Trust is overseen by his longtime manager and lawyer Robert Kory.