Quincy Jones is one of the most accomplished men in the history of popular music; and one of the legendary producer’s most famous contributions is his work with pop icon Michael Jackson in the late 1970s and 1980s. Jones produced three of Jackson’s best-selling and most enduring albums, Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad; but according to a new lawsuit, Jones doesn’t feel he’s getting a fair shake from Jackson’s estate or Sony Music Entertainment, the distributor of the singer’s catalog.
According to a suit filed by Jones, the producer claims that Jackson’s estate and Sony re-edited songs improperly with the intention of depriving Jones of production fees and royalties. Jones says that the re-edits constitute a violation of an agreement that gave him the right to remix master recordings for albums released following Michael Jackson’s 2009 death.
Jones also claims that he should have received a producer’s credit on the music included in the 2009 documentary film This Is It. His lawsuit seeks an accounting of the estate’s profits from the works so that Jones can determine how much he is owed.
Jones, who’s also produced luminaries like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Aretha Franklin, is seeking $10 million from Jackson’s estate. The Jackson estate issued a response to Jones’ lawsuit.
“To the best of its knowledge, Mr Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael,” a statement said.
Jackson’s family recently lost a negligence case against concert promoters AEG Live regarding the superstar’s death. Jackson died from an overdose of surgical anesthetic just before he was to undertake a tour in 2009.
