Quincy Jones sues Michael Jackson’s estate

Music producer Quincy Jones filed a lawsuit today against the estate of Michael Jackson, claiming he is owed millions of dollars in royalties stemming from his work with the King of Pop on the albums “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad.”

Jones contends in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that following Jackson’s death in 2009, the singer’s estate “began commercially releasing new audio and audio-visual works without regard to the terms” of Jones’ previous contractual rights to Jackson’s music.

Among those new releases were the “This Is It” film, which was cobbled together from rehearsal footage taken while Jackson was preparing for his never-realized concert series in London; the “This Is It” film soundtrack; the Cirque du Soleil production “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour” and its accompanying soundtrack; and the theatrical production “Michael Jackson: One” at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

According to the lawsuit, Jackson’s estate “secretly entered into” various distribution and profit-sharing agreements that diverted revenue and reduced the amount of royalties owed to Jones.

In a statement released to the website TMZ.com, Jackson estate attorney Howard Weitzman said, “The estate of Michael Jackson was saddened to learn that Quincy Jones has filed a lawsuit seeking money from Michael’s estate. To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Jones has been appropriately compensated over approximately 35 years for his work with Michael.”