An appeal court has overturned Quincy Jones’ $9.4M win in Michael Jackson royalties lawsuit in 2017, and now the legendary producer is allowed to keep only &2.6 million of the judgment.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, was handed down by a panel of three Judges on Tuesday, May 5. The panel came to the conclusion that the previous judge made a mistake in allowing a jury to make the court decision instead of interpreting the contract himself.
Quincy Jones, on the other hand, argued that he owned about $30 million in royalties from different projects, including a region of $1.6 million from Jackson’s songs that were remixed. Likewise, revenue from the “This Is It” concert film released after the demise of Michael Jackson in 2009. Again, a revenue increase negotiated by the music legend’s estate, increasing royalties that the estate receives from Sony.
Even though Quincy Jones was allowed to keep the remaining $2.6 million from the original judgment, the conclusion from the 2nd Appellate was that;
“The award of $5,315,787 must be reversed because it was based on the jury’s improper conclusion that: (1) the Producer Agreements entitled Jones to a share of net receipts for Master use licenses; and (2) the Producer Agreements entitled Jones to more than 10 percent of record sales if Sony increased Jackson’s basic royalty rate over time in the Recording Agreements.”
Additionally, the court decided against Jones keeping $1.6 million in remix fees, stating that he should have “negotiated” separate agreements for such fees.
While responding to the court ruling, Michael Jackson’s estate attorney, Howard Weitzman, released the following statement;
“Quincy Jones was the last person we thought would try to take advantage of Michael Jackson by filing a lawsuit three years after he died asking for tens of millions of dollars he wasn’t entitled to,” Weitzman said. “We knew the verdict was wrong when we heard it, and the court of appeal has completely vindicated us. From the beginning, this was an attempt to take advantage of Michael knowing he wasn’t here to defend himself.”
Moreover, Quincy Jones’ attorney noted that while they “disagree with portions” of the court ruling, they are pleased with the $2.6 million awarded to the music producer, but at the same time, they are evaluating their options going forward.
