The estate has filed lawsuit against the companies over unauthorized music and images used in the documentary.
- May 31, 2018
AceShowbiz - Officials for Michael Jackson's estate have launched a lawsuit against bosses at ABC and The Walt Disney Company over music and images used in their recent documentary The Last Days of Michael Jackson.
The TV special debuted in America last week, ends May 25, even though estate chiefs branded it "crass" and exploitative. They also attacked ABC's Disney bosses over the TV special's use of protected music, photographs and artwork. and now they have launched a lawsuit over the use of those protected materials.
"Disney used this music without obtaining required permissions from both the owners of the sound recordings (the Estate) and the owner of the musical compositions (the Estate for most songs, and third parties for a few others)," the lawsuit reads.
According to The Blast, network bosses argued they were entitled to use the materials because the TV special was a documentary.
"If Disney's position on fair use of the Estate's copyrights were accepted, a network, studio or producer could make a documentary about Walt Disney, and spend most of the documentary's time using, without Disney's permission, extensive clips of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney, and Disney movies," the legal filing continues. "Disney's music could play in the background to the narrator and the interviews".
Estate bosses are suing for copyright infringement and are seeking unspecified damages.
The TV special chronicled the final days of Jackson's life in 2009 as he rehearsed and prepared for a run of comeback concerts in London.
