Music Producer Quincy Jones filed suit against pop icon Michael Jackson’s estate on Friday for unpaid royalties the musical legend alleges are owed to him.
Jones and Michael had a long personal and professional relationship, working together on Jackson’s best work including, “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad.” However now four years after Jackson’s death, Jones claims that the Jackson estate and music label have deliberately deprived him of millions of dollars in compensation.
As reported by reuters.com:
“Music producer Quincy Jones sued Michael Jackson’s estate on Friday, seeking millions of dollars in royalties generated from some of the star’s biggest hits after the King of Pop’s death. Jones also named Sony Music Entertainment, the parent company of Jackson’s longtime label, Epic Records, in the breach-of-contract complaint.
“According to the lawsuit, master recordings of songs Jones produced were remixed and edited to deprive the 27-time Grammy-winning producer of compensation he was entitled to under agreements with Jackson dating back to the 1970s and ’80s.”
Jones has apparently been trying to resolve this situation quietly to no avail, so he and his legal team took court action.
“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,” Jones’ lawyer, Henry Gradstein, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Jackson family made a statement through their lawyer, Howard Weitzman, to TMZ.com.
“The estate of Michael Jackson was saddened to learn that Quincy Jones has filed a lawsuit seeking money from Michael’s estate. To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael,” the statement said.
There is no telling who is in the wrong here, or how this all workout. But hopefully they can come to a swift and amicable solution. It would be unfortunate for a relationship that has been prosperous for many years to become marred by conflict.
