According to CNN, a bitter legal dispute between Michael Jackson's
estate and a business partner of the late pop icon's mother was settled
Tuesday, just before a trial on the matter was to begin, lawyers said. In the
end, the lawyer for Katherine
Jackson, who was not a party to the lawsuit, mediated the agreement,
which gives the estate $2.5 million from the several companies involved.
A federal judge had already ruled that Howard Mann and
several associated companies violated Jackson's copyrights, which are
controlled by his estate executors, and the only question for a jury was how
much should be paid in damages.
"In light of the court's rulings for the estate
on summary judgment, this settlement seems appropriate for all concerned,"
estate lawyers Howard Weitzman and Zia Modabber said in a statement to CNN on
Tuesday.
Mann's company published Katherine Jackson's 150-page
coffee table book "Never Can Say Goodbye, The Katherine Jackson
Story" two years ago and established a website --
MichaelJacksonSecretVault.com -- that the estate argued illegally used
Jackson's images and lyrics.
"This was a long, complex and difficult
litigation that in the end will likely be equitable for Mrs. Jackson and the
other parties involved," Mann said. "This settlement would not have
been possible without Perry Sanders (Katherine Jackson's lawyer), who worked to
bridge quite a distance."
"I really really appreciated the reasonableness
of all parties involved, and everyone is served well by getting this wrapped
up," said Sanders, who helped mediate the settlement this week.
The resolution of the dispute represents a new twist
in the contentious relationship between the executors who control Michael
Jackson's estate and the members of the Jackson family and some of their
business associates.
Mann's involvement with the Jacksons began when he
partnered with Henry Vaccaro, who bought a large amount of Jackson memorabilia
purchased at an auction after Katherine and Joe Jackson's 1999 bankruptcy. A
lien will be placed on those photos and other assets until a portion of the
settlement is paid, a lawyer said.
Katherine Jackson was not a defendant, but her name
and those of her husband, Joe Jackson, and children Janet, Randy, Tito and
Jermaine Jackson were on the defense witness list.
The estate accused Mann of "wholesale
misappropriation" of Michael Jackson copyrights and acting with "arrogant
disregard" for the estate's rights by using unauthorized images
While the estate claimed the book sold about 25,000
copies for $1.5 million in the first two days, Mann's lawyers contended
"actual sales are very minimal and the defendant's businesses have
suffered a major net loss."
The copyright violations also included screen shots
from the "This Is It" documentary about the singer's last days and
other "misappropriated" images, including Jackson's "Smooth
Criminal Lean," which Mann's company used in its corporate logo.
Mann's website, which the judge already ordered to be
taken offline, "does absolutely everything in its power to suggest to its
visitors that it is the hub for all things Michael Jackson, and that it is
sanctioned and supported by the estate, when in fact it is neither," the
estate argued.
No comments:
Post a Comment