MUMBAI: Michael Jackson’s estate is facing $24 mn suit for music rights of ‘This is it’. Music producer Michael Jonzun has claimed that he helped create Michael Jackson’s song ‘This Is It’.
Jonzun has filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court, against MJ’s estate and the track’s co-writer Paul Anka, claiming that he owns one third of the radio-only single, which accompanied the 2009 documentary of the same name. He alleges that he helped turn Anka and Michael’s 1983 song ‘I Never Heard’ into the track ‘This Is It’, but was never paid for his efforts.
According to reports, Jonzun, is an electro-dance musician, best known for forming the Jonzun Crew in the early 1980s.
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However, Anka said he’s never even heard of Jonzun and his claims are ‘BS’.
In 1983, Anka collaborated with Jackson on the unreleased duet I Never Heard, and the original demo was used as the basis for ‘This Is It’.
Jackson’s brothers layed down new vocals and additional instrumentation were added to the recording in 2009.
‘This Is It’ was nominated for Grammy’s in 2011 and was the former king of pop’s first song to chart in over 17 years. It became a top 20 hit on charts in Japan and Spain, and peaked at number 18 on both Billboard’s US Adult Contemporary and R&B/Hip-Hop song charts.
This is not the first lawsuit brought forth over the pop ballad.
Immediately after its release, Anka also threatened legal action against Jackson’s estate until they agreed to give him 50 percent of the song’s publishing rights.
