Lawyers for Michael Jackson's estate are celebrating after a California appeals court ordered a reversal on Tuesday of $9.4 million awarded to aging music producer Quincy Jones for royalties.
At issue is how contracts were interpreted in 2017 by a trial judge overseeing the case in which Jones' sought millions in royalties for producing projects after Jackson's death in 2009,
USA Today reported.
Most of the money awarded to Jones, which totaled $9.4 million, was erased but the $2.6 million granted to him for unpaid fees was left in place. The judgment is to be amended by the trial court.
"Quincy Jones was the last person we thought would try to take advantage of Michael Jackson by filing a lawsuit (four) years after he died asking for tens of millions of dollars he wasn’t entitled to," said Michael Jackson's estate lawyer 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."
Jones initially filed a lawsuit in 2013, claiming he was
cheated out of $30 million from the estate for producing and remixing Jackson’s top hits from "Off the Wall," "Bad," and "Thriller." Jones’ lawyers additionally claimed that the 87-year-old was entitled to proceeds generated from Jackson’s backstage concert film, "This Is It."
The Jackson estate appealed the jury's ruling and Jones responded with a cross-appeal in which he sought more than the original amount.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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