Where’s My Cut? Quincy Jones Sues Michael Jackson’s Estate

Quincy Jones is obviously a little hurt. The mogul is suing Michael Jackson‘s estate for allegedly cheating him out of multiple checks stemming from a few of Jackson’s projects- including the This is It film and soundtrack album, the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil productions and the 25th anniversary edition of the Bad album. Whew! From my calculations, that would be a hell of a lot of money, $10 million dollars to be exact…if what Jones is saying is in fact true.

Here’s the scoop:

The legendary producer — who has won 27 Grammy Awards and produced the King of Pop’s best-selling albums including Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad — is going to war with Sony Music Entertainment and MJJ Productions, a song company controlled by the icon’s estate. At issue are works including the This Is It film and soundtrack album, the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil productions and the 25th anniversary edition of the Bad album.

In a complaint filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Jones alleges that master recordings he worked on were wrongfully edited and remixed so as to deprive him of backend profit participation. Jones also asserts that he has been denied credit for his work on the singer’s posthumous releases and that MJJ and Sony have entered into side deals taking profits that should have been included in the calculation of royalties.

Jones made agreements with Jackson in 1978 and 1985 for work on the singer’s solo albums. The contracts are said to have stipulated that Jones be given the first opportunity to re-edit or remix any of the master recordings, that the coupling of master recordings with other recordings required his prior written consent, and that he be given producer credit for each of the master recordings. The deal also entitled the producer to additional compensation — including upfront payment and a “backend” percentage — in the event of remixed masters.

After the producer was hired, Jackson signed a recording agreement with Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony. The record deal entitled Jones to payments, credit, the approval of biographical material and regular accounting. Jones contends that he is a third-party beneficiary of this recording agreement.

Jones says the terms of his deal were breached when MJJ allowed third parties to exploit these works “without first providing a reasonable opportunity to Jones to perform such remixes and/or re-edits.”

We’ll see how this plays out…

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