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.
Do you know that Henry Gradstein, the lawyer of Q, IS the same attorney who is representing Wade Robson in his money grab attempt!
It says Gradstein & Marzano lawfirm right there on that complaint. (Maryann Marzano (WR attorney's parter named in the lawsuit document) has more cases like this.)
The fact he is using the same Attorneys as Wade Robson really disturbs me and question his motives. I truly hope he (Q) wasn't aware of that. Something seems very fishy (stinky) with that.
I don't believe Quincy deliberately hand picked the very same lawyer who represents WR. What I believe is that this guy approaches people in MJ's life and tries to find a way for them to sue MJ's Estate and make money.
The strange thing is not that he represents Quincy.
Gradstein's speciality is royalties/business issues. The strange thing is rather that he represents Wade Robson because his specialities do not include child abuse allegations. Even at the beginning of WR's case many fans remarked that it's odd. Now I wonder if it started with first weighing Wade's possibilities to sue the Estate on some business term (for example in connection with the Cirque stuff, Opus, Wade's earlier contract with MJJ Productions etc.) I wonder if they found no real opportunity there and that's how it all turned into child abuse allegations. Because the choice of lawyer for that case is certainly very odd.
I don't believe this is a coincidence. Gradstein is certainly not the only lawyer in LA and I guess there are plenty who deal with royalties as well. Gradstein now demands access to the Estate's finances through Quincy's case. That's information he could use for WR's case as well and I don't think it would be fair.
Michael would've never wanted anything to do with him anymore ever again. Yes it's true Michael didn't put him on the map, but without Michael Jackson this guy wouldn't have been half the man he is today. Michael however would have still been THE Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones didn't make him and most certainly won't break him.
I have listened to those raw demotapes and Quincy's input is minimal, he even got credits on tracks he had no involvement in (Billie Jean, DSTYGE, WNBSS, Beat It etc).
The fact of the matter is that their partnership produced a great synergy. without MJ, Quincy would not have had the success he had with MJ. yes he had some credentials mostly from the world of Jazz. However, he was an average artist/producer. his success was modest and pales in comparison to the work he did with MJ.
MJ took him on board because he thought Quincy could understand his artistic vision. That's what made MJ so unique. he knew exactly what he wanted and was looking for a producer who understood him and allow him to express himself artistically.
That being said, no-one is trying to take away Quincy's achievements. but my point is that both had a very effective partnership. so claiming that he made MJ is a gross misrepresentation. MJ success was not down to one person alone. it was the result of a solid team work involving MJ, Quincy, Frank Dileo, Bruce Sweden, Rod Temperson and so many others.
in addition, Quincy never replicated the success he had with MJ with other artists. which proves my point above.
Therefore, I think his contribution to MJ success is completely overblown. And Part of the reason the media are so quick to grant every credit in a book to Quincy alone is because of their utter disdain for MJ. They despise him so profoundly that they are willing to strip him of all his credentials if it boils down to that.