Almost four years after he filed a suit against the late singer Michael Jackson’s MJJ productions over a $30 million debt, Quincy Jones finally won the suit. He was awarded a $9.4 million damages after a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court found that he had been underpaid his share of royalties for the use of music in the posthumous film of the late singer ‘This is it’ and two Cirque du Soleil shows.
Jones who worked with Jackson on a series of albums including ‘Thriller’, said after his victory that the suit was never about the late singer but about protecting the integrity and rights of an artist.
However, lawyers of Michael Jackson Estate who manages the production outfit argued that Jackson was the real artist and not Jones. The estate pointed out that the music producer benefited heavily from Jackson’s music after his death in 2009. They stressed during the two-week trial that Jones contribution to Jackson’s music did not play a major role in the artiste’s success. However, Jones countered by pointing out that he sifted through 800 songs to find the material that ended up on ‘Thriller’ which included seven Top 10 hits. He concluded that the producer role is very crucial because it can turn the worst artist in the world a star. Nevertheless, the lawyers felt that Jones suit was unfair to Jackson’s heirs.
