Michael Jackson’s estate is off the hook when it comes to most of the $9.4 million awarded to “Off The Wall” producer Quincy Jones in a dispute over unpaid royalties, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal said a lower court erred when it allowed a jury to calculate the whopping sum after it found MJJ Productions breached agreements with Jones.
A three-judge panel overturned the $1.6 million awarded for remix fees and the $5.3 million awarded for joint venture profits. It upheld three other awards including nearly $2 million for “master use” fees related to the movie “This Is It.”
Jones, 87, began pursuing his claim a few years after Jackson died from an accidental overdose of the surgery-strength anesthetic propofol in June 2009.
Among his grievances, Jones said the singer’s estate reworked music he produced on Jackson’s hit albums “Off The Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” and then used it in “This Is It” and two Cirque du Soleil shows without awarding him appropriate compensation.
A jury returned a special verdict in Jones’ favor in 2017. It found he was entitled to the $9.4 million, including the $1.6 million for MJJP’s alleged failure to provide him with the right of first opportunity to remix masters.
“Interpretation of the Producer Agreements was solely a judicial function, yet the trial court allowed the jury to perform that function and ultimately misinterpret the relevant terms,” the 45-page appeals court ruling obtained by the Daily News said.
Lawyers for Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the New York Daily News.
“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,” estate lawyer Howard Weitzman said in a statement Tuesday.
“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,” Weitzman said.
“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 favorable and just decision, recognizes that Michael Jackson was both an enormous talent and an extremely fair business executive,” estate co-executor John Branca said.
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