The Estate of Michael Jackson isn’t exactly popular with many people these days, including Quincy Jones. Jones, one of the most successful arrangers and producers in music history, is suing The Estate, and Sony Music, for upwards of $10 million.
Throughout his career, which spans six decades and boasts an astonishing 27 Grammy Awards, Jones worked with an array of legendary acts including Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, The Brothers Johnson, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. But it’s decade-long collaboration with Michael Jackson for which he is best-known.
Jones produced Jackson’s three most iconic solo albums; ‘Off The Wall’ (1979), ‘Thriller’ (1982) and ‘Bad’ (1987). ‘Thriller’, as we all know, holds the record as the biggest selling album in the history of recorded music. It is the music within these albums that forms the basis of the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on October 25, 2013.
To put it simply; Jones alleges that those in charge of Jackson’s posthumous empire have entered into secret side-agreements with Sony, referred to throughout the court filings as “Clandestine Agreements”, in order to cheat him out of the royalties to which he believes he is entitled, based on contractual agreements made between himself and Jackson in the 70s and 80s.
Jones claims that these “Clandestine Agreements” were made in an attempt to divert revenues to MJJ Productions, Inc. and disguise those revenues as profits instead of royalties.
“Quincy has been frustrated with these matters for a number of years, felt he was not making any progress and needed to take more formal action,” says Jones’ attorney, Henry Gradstein, as quoted on The Hollywood Reporter.
As always, The Estate’s attorney, Howard Weitzman, was quick to respond with a cleverly-worded statement.
“[The Estate] was saddened to learn that Quincy Jones has filed a lawsuit seeking money from Michael’s estate. To the best of its knowledge, Mr. Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael,” Weitzman told The Hollywood Reporter.
Jones is pursuing The Estate and Sony for in excess of $10 million in breach-of-contract damages and unpaid master recording royalties. He’s also demanding an accounting.
Jones isn’t the first person to question the accounting methods of The Estate. In fact, in July 2012 Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, requested an extensive audit of The Estate’s financial activities.
To be clear, although Katherine Jackson and Michael’s three children; Prince, Paris and Blanket are the “beneficiaries” of Michael Jackson’s Estate, they are not in a position of power within the Estate itself. All power is in the hands of controversial co-executors John Branca and John McClain.
Speaking on her behalf, Katherine’s attorney, Perry Sanders, told Radar Online: “My audit is being done to see the details of where the money is coming from and where it is going … The beneficiaries should be entitled to all detailed documentation so they can see what THEIR money is paying for.”
Katherine Jackson’s lawyers submitted legal documents on July 19, 2012 requesting the “production of supporting documents for account current.”
The document states: “Ms. Katherine Jackson hereby requests that representatives John Branca, John McClain and counsel for the Estate of Michael Jackson produce for inspection and audit all supporting documents for the Second Account Current and Report of Status of Administration and Petition.”
Lawyers for The Estate chose not to comply with Katherine Jackson’s requests, instead responding with the following: “John Branca and John McClain object to the Request to the extent that it is vague and ambiguous as to the phrase ‘all supporting documents for the Second Account Current’ in that the Request encompasses thousands of pages of documents which potentially support the Second Account Current…Responding Party (the executors) objects to the Request to the extent that it seeks highly confidential business and financial information…it will not produce such documents absent the entry of a stipulation and protective order governing, among other things, the access to and use highly confidential documents.”
Then, in August 2013 the IRS, in U.S. Tax Court, claimed that The Estate of Michael Jackson owed them $702 million – $505.1 million in federal taxes and $196.9 million in penalties – accusing The Estate of undervaluing some of Michael Jackson’s assets by up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The King of Pop’s “image and likeness” was valued by the IRS at $434 million. According to The Estate, its actual taxable value was a measly $2,105.
The most significant taxable item was The Estate’s stake in some of Michael Jackson’s music publishing assets, listed as MJ/ATV Publishing Trust interest in New Horizon Trust II – valued by the IRS at $469 million but not valued in The Estate’s 2009 filing.
The Estate’s attorney, Howard Weitzman, said the IRS’s appraisal values “were based on speculative and erroneous assumptions unsupported by the facts or law,” adding that, “The executors are disappointed the IRS continues to overreach in this matter but firmly believes all issues will be resolved in favour of the estate and the beneficiaries.”
Weitzman also noted that The Estate had paid over $100 million in taxes and is “in full compliance with the tax laws.”
Under U.S. Tax Court rules, The Estate of Michael Jackson will not be forced to pay the alleged tax deficit or any penalties unless the court rules in favour of the IRS. The matter is still pending.
Also displeased with The Estate of Michael Jackson is Roger Taylor of legendary UK rock band Queen.
Taylor is frustrated with the continued delays surrounding the posthumous release of two to three highly-anticipated duets between the late Queen front man, Freddie Mercury, and deceased King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
“Queen rocker Roger Taylor blames the executors of Michael Jackson’s estate for a four-year delay in the release of the Thriller star’s secret duets with Freddie Mercury,” wrote Contact Music on September 26, 2013.
The songs, called “There Must Be More To Life Than This”, “State Of Shock” and “Victory”, were recorded at Jackson’s home studio in Encino, California approximately 30 years ago and were never completed by the duo.
“Freddie and Michael never finished the songs, because Queen had to leave L.A. to go on tour. Brian and I have worked on them, which means they’ll come out as Queen and Michael Jackson – hopefully… if the Michael Jackson estate can get its arse into gear,” Taylor is quoted as telling Mojo Magazine.
“They’ve been hanging around for years and years and Michael’s estate haven’t really been able to make their mind up about what to do with them,” he later added in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine. “So we suggested we finish them and see. They’re pretty good – one of them is great.”
And so, Queen guitarist Brian May began working on bringing the songs to completion. Since then, it’s been a topic of curiosity for both Michael Jackson and Queen fans.
Back in July 2013, May was quoted as saying there will be, “something for folks to hear” in two months time. However, two months came and went, and the tracks were never released.
And so the question remains: When will the songs come out?
“I think we’re in [The Estate of Michael Jackson’s] hands. But obviously, you know, I mean… here they are. We think they’re finished to our satisfaction. If you give us the go ahead we’ll put them out. It’s as simple as that really.”
Audio of Taylor’s mention of the Jackson / Mercury tracks can be heard below:
Michael Jackson & Freddie Mercury – “State Of Shock”
Michael Jackson & Freddie Mercury – “There Must Be More To Life Than This”
I support EVERY SINGLE lawsuit against MJ Estate that points at MJ
Estate EXECUTOR’ s wrongdoings because EXECUTORS are liable and
accountable for their wrongdoings. MJ3 and KJ can file damage against
executors & remove them for once & for all .
If executors negligently or deliberately fail to make payments,
unnecessarily wasting estate assets, the beneficiaries under the will
may have recourse against them in court.
I am looking forward seeing KJ and MJ3 consult an estate litigation attorney to deal with MJ Estate continuous wrongdoings.
These are some examples for when the estate’s beneficiaries, may sue the estate’s Executors:
Executors fail to properly secure and insure the assets of the estate, and it suffers a loss as a result.
Executors diminish the estate through imprudent investments or inadequate record keeping.
Executors fail to pay taxes on the estate, in which case Executors may be personally liable for interest and penalties.
Executors sell an asset of the estate without authority to do so.
Executors delay settlement of the estate unnecessarily or are tardy in executing important transactions.
Executors engage in actions that constitute a conflict of interest.
Executors improperly delegate decisions to others who have no legal authority over the estate.
Executors approve a coexecutor’s or coadministrator’s breach of duty.
ps:
I am looking forward for a Consumer’s Class Action Lawsuits against the Estate Executor’s, Sony, and whoever else is responsible for the FAKE Cascio songs.
#MJEstateExecutorsMUSTGO !
🙂
“I am looking forward for a Consumer’s Class Action Lawsuits against the Estate Executor’s, Sony, and whoever else is responsible for the FAKE Cascio songs”.
THIS!!!
I think Jones is going to win this lawsuit. I mean, considering how his songs were used in the ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ film without his permission, and the fact that Cirque du Soleil didn’t ask permission to use his songs in their Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and Michael Jackson: One productions, things are looking quite bleak for The Estate of Michael Jackson.
As for the ‘Llama Recordings’, I wish they would be released soon. They were meant to be released in 2011 or something, but that didn’t happen. Surely everyone would like to hear four duets between the King of Pop and the frontman of a band like Queen? I really don’t get what the Estate is thinking about. The solo version of ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’ was released by Mercury on his ‘Mr. Bad Guy’, and a snippet of the demo was used in a BBC documentary. ‘State of Shock’ would be a sure hit, and everyone would like to hear ‘Victory’…
Number one, they were not Quincy Jones’ songs. He did not write them he was just the producer. I have never trusted Quincy and I hope he does not win. He was a fake friend to MJ practically calling him a liar about his skin color saying he wanted to be white, and this coming from a man that is married to a white women. And also he really does think that MJ success was soley due to him, and others have erred in thinking the same . Well if that were so why has he not produced any other epic album like thriller? What other artist has he raised to the stratosphere? None! MJ did go on produce more hits. And probably would not have stopped producing hits if certain other things had not happened in his life.
I think Jones is going to win this lawsuit. I mean, considering how his songs were used in the ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ film without his permission, and the fact that Cirque du Soleil didn’t ask permission to use his songs in their Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and Michael Jackson: One productions, things are looking quite bleak for The Estate of Michael Jackson.
As for the ‘Llama Recordings’, I wish they would be released soon. They were meant to be released in 2011 or something, but that didn’t happen. Surely everyone would like to hear four duets between the King of Pop and the frontman of a band like Queen? I really don’t get what the Estate is thinking about…
Again they were not Quincy Jones’ songs he did not write the music or lyrics. He was just the producer. And I also do not understand why he should have to be consulted to use a song that he did not write. And if it is in the old contract the he has to be then he is a con artist to. And my distrust of him is justified.
Hi Damien, do you know if there is there a point in time where John Branca or John McClain will no longer be the executors of the estate?
I see that it’s just not being utilized properly at all. A large plethora of media/material is not getting out to the fans, and if they are it’s in lackluster quality. Michael’s legacy is being mismanaged completely.
I whole heartedly support the estate, and more importantly trust john branca more than any of the jackson brothers who are just a bunch of money grabbers. As for other lawsuits its just about getting a slice of the successful pie.
Haha 🙂
ok lets talk for a second about the successful pie…..
the estate is “successful” based on what? michael jackson’s art. his songs performances and videos. that art includes albums otw, thriller & bad. quincy jones produced those albums and has contracts giving him certain rights to use of the masters & royalties due from that. so quincy jones wants a slice of the pie he helped make and is entitled to eat. but thats wrong? john branca has nothing to do with the success of the pie or making the pie!
How about the IRS claiming $700 Million tax deficiency? Are they ‘money grabbers’ looking to get a ‘slice of the successful pie’ too? 🙂
$700 Million!!! 🙂
wade robson!
I don’t get how a song written by MJ needs a co-producer’s PERMISSION to be used by the songwriter’s estate. Take Billie Jean, how can it possibly be that MJ’s estate would need Q’s permission to remix/use it? Iwould really like more info about the contract MJ had wih Q.
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I am unhappy with alot of the things the estate has done since MJ died. whether on purpose or accidentily, they have done some questionable things. Katherine and the kids have every right to be asking questions. The thing I’m getting tired of is people bashing Katherine and the other Jacksons just because the Jacksons aren’t 100% happy with the estate. Michael was their family. These Executors were merely employees who yes, even in life made their living off Michael Jackson. If it was the legacy of my Brother, Father, Son etc, I would want to know the details of who exactly is making money off of it and how much. Yet everyone wants to make the Jacksons out to be greedy crazy loons. That’s MJ’s family you’re speaking about. Michael loved his family dearly, yes even his brothers even though they had their differences sometimes im sure as happens with every family. Also, Quincey Jones has his own money I’m sure, I doubt his motivation is greed. I bet he saw how the Jacksons were being treated and did this as a way to help their efforts.
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