The estate of the late Michael Jackson has won a decisive legal victory against Quincy Jones, with an appeals court overturning a jury’s 2017 decision to award the King of Pop’s longtime producer $9.4 million in royalties he claimed he was owed for projects released after Jackson’s 2009 death.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jones sued the Jackson estate seeking $30 million, claiming he had been shortchanged on projects made after the star’s death, including remixes of hit songs and the licensing of masters for This Is It.
The jury determined that Jones was owed nearly $1.6 million because he wasn’t allowed to participate in those remixes, along with an additional $5.3 million in joint venture profits, nearly $2 million more for This Is It and $180,000 for foreign public performance income.
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However, the appeals court ruled that the jury misinterpreted the contract, and reduced the amount Jones was owed by $6.9 million.
“Quincy Jones was the last person we thought would try to take advantage of Michael Jackson by filing a lawsuit three years after he died asking for tens of millions of dollars he wasn’t entitled to,” said Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman. “We knew the verdict was wrong when we heard it, and the court of appeal has completely vindicated us. From the beginning this was an attempt to take advantage of Michael knowing he wasn’t here to defend himself.”
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Added John Branca, co-executor of the estate: “So many people have tried to take advantage of Michael and mischaracterize him since his death. It’s gratifying that in this case the court, in an overwhelmingly favourable and just decision, recognizes that Michael Jackson was both an enormous talent and an extremely fair business executive.”
