Executors of MICHAEL JACKSON’s estate have asked a judge to remove JERMAINE and RANDY JACKSON’s ex-wife ALEJANDRA from the family compound again, after she refused to leave.

Alejandra is in a legal battle with the Jacksons after family members requested court help to remove her and her kids from their Encino, California home, so her temporary residence there could be renovated.

Alejandra, who has children with both Randy and Jermaine, refused to move and reportedly declined Jackson matriarch Katherine’s offer to set her up with an apartment.

She claimed administrators of the estate have been trying to force her out of the house by cutting off the gas to the property, changing the locks and threatening to fumigate the home while she and her kids were in it.

Lawyers for the estate have now gone before a judge again to request the legal removal of Alejandra from her home, according to TMZ.com.

The case will go before a court on Tuesday (15th March 2011)

You now have the chance to see MORE of Michael Jackson then you ever dreamed possible! Along with THE IMMORTAL World Tour we want you to experience something so special, so unique, and so exclusive it could only happen in Las Vegas! We want the input of the most passionate fan base in the world to develop an interactive experience unlike any other, one focused solely on the history, legacy, and influence of Michael Jackson!

Click here to take survey.

The poll will close 16th March 2011.

Source: MJ Online Team

Tour Expanding to 17 New Cities, Adding Dates As Anticipation Grows

Longtime Michael Jackson Collaborator Greg Phillinganes, Top Musical Designer Kevin Antunes Joining Creative Team

Exclusive Pre-Sale Starts March 9 and General Onsale Begins March 12

Montreal, March 9, 2011 – With anticipation growing for the launch of Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, Cirque du Soleil announced today it is adding 17 new cities to its tour in advance of its World Premiere October 2 in Montreal. In addition, new dates are being added to the existing schedule or extra seats released in more than 25 cities across North America.

Cirque du Soleil also announced that Greg Phillinganes, one of Michael Jackson’s key creative collaborators on some of his most memorable tours and albums, has joined the Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour creative team as music director, providing an unparalleled depth of knowledge of Michael’s music and the live Michael Jackson experience. Phillinganes was music director for Michael’s Bad and Dangerous tours and worked on such iconic albums as Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, Invincible, and the latest release Michael.

Kevin Antunes, one of the industry’s top musical designers, will join creative team as musical designer and will also team with Phillinganes to work on the score for this landmark production. Antunes has worked directly for Madonna, Justin Timberlake and *NSYNC, and has performed with artists such as Janet Jackson, Timbaland, Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Mary J Blige, Alicia Keys, Taylor Swift, Snoop Dogg and Christina Aguilera, among others.

For tour cities and ticket information, please go to www.cirquedusoleil.com/MichaelJackson

About the Show
A riveting fusion of visuals, dance, music and fantasy that immerses audiences in Michael’s creative world and literally turns his signature moves upside down, Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour unfolds Michael Jackson’s artistry before the eyes of the audience. Aimed at lifelong fans as well as those experiencing Michael’s creative genius for the first time, the show captures the essence, soul and inspiration of the King of Pop, celebrating a legacy that continues to transcend generations.

THE IMMORTAL World Tour takes place in a fantastical realm where we discover Michael’s inspirational Giving Tree—a wellspring of creativity that illuminates for the audience Michael’s thoughtful inner world, offering new paths to express his love for music, dance, fairy tale and magic, and the fragile beauty of nature.

The underpinnings of THE IMMORTAL World Tour are Michael Jackson’s powerful, inspirational music and lyrics—the driving force behind the show—brought to life with extraordinary power and breathless intensity. Through unforgettable performances Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour underscores Michael’s global messages of love, peace and unity.

Creative Team – Click on “Meet the Creators” for bio information.
Guy Laliberté – Creative Guide
Chantal Tremblay – Director of Creation
Jamie King – Writer and Director
Kevin Antunes – Musical Designer
Greg Phillinganes – Music Director
Mark Fisher – Set Designer
Michael Curry – Props and Scenic Designer
Zaldy Goco – Costume Designer
Germain Guillemot – Acrobatic Performance Designer
Scott Osgood – Rigging and Acrobatic Equipment Designer
Olivier Goulet – Projection Designer
Martin Labrecque – Lighting Designer

Source: The Official Online Team of the Michael Jackson Estate®

Michael Jackson’s Ultimate Music Fan Global Mash-up To Launch Online March 7
Innovative “Behind The Mask” Video Project Seeks Creative Input From Across The World To Shape Unique Artistic Vision

In the spirit of Michael Jackson’s pioneering videos that pushed the creative boundaries in capturing the look, feel and emotions of music, the Estate of Michael Jackson and Sony Music will provide everyone who likes music an opportunity to help create online a unique groundbreaking music video for the single “Behind the Mask”. Using the web in a truly innovative way, people from around the world on March 7 will come together to create an imaginative piece of Michael Jackson history in The Behind the Mask Project.

Led by the creative team at Radical Media and director Dennis Liu, participants will visit the website http://behindthemask.michaeljackson.com which will be loaded with simple tools that define the different roles one can play in this landmark project. First, users select a move, a lyric, or a crowd reaction; performers can even demonstrate their own moonwalk, the anti-gravity lean or the toe stand. Then, using the site’s split-screen template, contributors can shoot their move right on the website with their web cam (or their video camera) and upload their clip at the precise time it occurs in the video.

After the worldwide community has come together and done their part, the director will select the top clips and weave them into this historical work of Michael Jackson video art. The final results of The Behind the Mask Project will be unveiled during the first week in April.

“Behind the Mask” is a critic and fan favorite from MICHAEL – the unique collection of songs featuring Michael’s performances completed posthumously and released in December by the Michael Jackson Estate and Sony Music. MICHAEL was the #1 global album upon its release in December and has shipped over 3 million units worldwide making it one of the biggest albums of 2010. The album’s success continues to underscore Michael’s importance as a global icon and superstar, transcending cultures and languages.

Sign up now at www.michaeljackson.com for updates on the project. Participate starting March 7, 2011 at http://behindthemask.michaeljackson.com.

Source: Sony / The Michael Jackson Estate

There have been a great deal of questions regarding the Mijac catalog and reports in the press of it moving to Sony/ATV. Below is an email from Co-Executor John Branca to Jeff Jampol, GM of the MJ Online team, clarifying some of what has been publicized through various media outlets.

Best,

Gayle

—— Forwarded Message
From: John Branca
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:18:31 -0600
To: Jeff Jampol
Subject: Michael Jackson/Mijac

Jeff:

I understand that you are being asked a lot of questions about Mijac.

Yes, there is a matching right that Michael granted to Sony/ATV but they only get to administer the catalog for a limited term AND only if they agree to unprecedented favorable terms. We will not relinquish ultimate control and ownership to anyone. We have favorably refinanced the loans on Mijac which will be paid off and the catalog WILL absolutely be passed to Michael’s children as long as we have anything to say about it.

Sony/ATV is a great company and the Estate owns half of it but no one, not even Sony/ATV, will ever own Mijac while John McClain and I remain in charge.

The current Sony team is the one Michael chose to work with on the Thriller 25 release and they are good partners. As stated in the recent court filings, they worked with us to refinance the burdensome debt that had been placed on Michael’s interest in Sony/ATV to very favorable terms, an important achievement which insures that Mijac and Michael’s masters remain secure for the benefit of Michael’s children for years to come.

I would appreciate your sharing this with the fans that are asking questions.

Thanks – John

John Branca
Co-Executor
The Estate Of Michael Jackson
Los Angeles, CA

Source: MJOnline, The Official Online Team of the Michael Jackson Estate®

Exclusive: Michael Jackson, even in death, remains in the middle of the current musical chairs deals in the declining record industry.

For all these years, Michael’s MiJac Publishing has been administered by Warner Chappell, part of what is now Warner Music Group. MiJac includes not only Michael’s hits that he wrote, like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” but a vast number of other hits including those of Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield, and Sly and the Family Stone.

Warner Chappell doesn’t own MiJac but it administers the rights to it and collects hefty fees. With WMG for sale, and talk of Warner Chappell being sold off, MiJac would seem like an integral part of their story.

But there’s a hitch that I can reveal to you: MiJac is leaving Warner Chappell and going to become part of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company that Michael Jackson’s estate co-owns with Sony and contains the Beatles catalog.

According to sources, this arrangement was written into the MiJac contract with Warner Chappell years ago. It would be triggered by the release of the next Jackson album–in this case, the recent “Michael”–and the repayment of loans.

The move by MiJac to Sony/ATV is a big deal for many reasons. With both WMG and EMI Music for sale Sony/ATV could be kicking the tires of each company’s publishing divisions for purchase. But Warner Chappell might be less interesting to Sony ATV considering they’re already getting Mi Jac. And without MiJac, Warner Chappell–which just had a down quarter–might not look so good to other potential buyers.

What may happen now: the newer, and very hot, BMG Music Rights will likely make a play for EMI Music Publishing. EMI Music–the record company, which has the Beatles albums in its catalog–the physical albums and box sets–could then be merged with another record company like Sony Music or, more horrifyingly, Warner Music.

Source: Showbiz 411

Katherine Jackson has spoken out about what she thinks of the lawyers who are currently managing Michael Jackson’s estate.

In a video interview with TMZ, Katherine is heard saying: “All these lawyers that are involved in Michael’s business since he passed – and there’s a lot of them- and I think they’re trying to create different law suits and things because they’re greedy and they want to be paid.”

Katherine also touched upon the subject of who owns Michael’s estate, claiming it belongs to her and Michael’s three children.

“Of course the children and I are the estate. John Branca and all that are just the executers of the estate. But everydody always says you got to get the permission of the estate or you got to talk to the estate about it.

“I know they are handling Michael’s business but they call themselves the estate.”

Source: MJJC

The Michael Jackson’s Estate has just sued Howard Mann, Katherine Jackson’s business partner, claiming he’s been ripping off Michael’s name and likeness for profit.

According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday, the Estate claims Mann has violated copyright, trademark and cyber piracy laws by hocking all things MJ.

Estate lawyer Howard Weitzman says, “The Estate had hoped Mann would voluntarily cease his conduct but that was not to be,” adding, “People who trade off Michael’s personality, copyrights, and trademarks should not be allowed to exploit the legacy of one of the world’s most recognized talents for their own benefit.”

The Estate did not name Katherine Jackson as a defendant.

Dear Fans & Fanclub Members,

It is with the greatest pleasure I am able to confirm that Discovery UK have cancelled their vile and sickening intended MJ Autopsy programme.

On behalf of King of Pop, countless other MJ Fanclubs and communities around the world, and myself; Thank You for all you have done. Without the pressure applied by our club and the thousands of Michael Jackson fans who took the time to send letters and emails to the Directors of Discovery UK, their vile programme would have been screened on 13th January 2011.

Once again, Thank you all for your persistence and dedication.
Michael would be so proud of us all for standing together and seeing through another victory for respect & decency in his name.

There’s nothing that can’t be done, if we raise our voice as one!
~ “We’ve Had Enough”, Michael Jackson

Happy New Year everyone!

Phil
Webmaster

King of Pop Fanclub

The Discovery television network on Friday said it canceled plans to air a reenactment of the autopsy on Michael Jackson’s body, citing an upcoming court hearing and concern by the late pop star’s estate.

The show, “Michael Jackson’s Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson,” had been set to air in several countries of western Europe and in the United Kingdom on January 13.

“Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson’s estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson’s official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely,” Discovery Networks International said in a statement.

A Discovery spokesman declined comment beyond the statement. Co-executors of the estate responded in their own statement saying they were “pleased” with the decision.

The “Thriller” singer died suddenly of a prescription drug overdose on June 25, 2009, age 50, only weeks before beginning a series of comeback concerts. An autopsy by Los Angeles officials showed Jackson died chiefly of an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol that he used as a sleep aid.

Discovery’s show, which was not scheduled to air in the United States, was an unofficial, fictional account of what the autopsy must have been like and its results.

But Jackson fans worldwide protested in an online petition launched earlier this month, and the co-executors of his estate sent a letter this week to Discovery Networks calling the program “insensitive” and “in shockingly bad taste.”

A print advertisement for the program shows a body covered by a sheet, with one hand poking out wearing the singer’s well-known sequined glove.

Following Discovery’s decision, McClain and Branca released a statement saying, “we are hopeful that this show will never run in any market in the future.”

“While Discovery cited legal proceedings and our request as the reasons for its decision, none of this would have happened had it not been for the incredible passion displayed by countless Michael Jackson fans worldwide who knew they stood as one and that their voices could not be ignored,” the statement said.

Jackson’s physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted giving the singer propofol, which is often used in surgery, and Murray has been charged by authorities with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death.

Murray has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing to determine if enough evidence exists to make him stand trial begins in Los Angeles on January 4.

Source: Reuters

Co-Executors John Branca and John McClain fired off a vitriolic letter to the Prez of Discovery — in which they accuse the network of operating in “shockingly bad taste … motivated solely by your blind desire to exploit Michael’s death, while cynically attempting to dupe the public into believing this show will have serious medical value.”

Download the Letter from the Estate

Source: TMZ

The executors of Michael Jackson’s estate have fired off an angry missive to the head of the Discovery Channel TV network in an effort to make him reconsider plans to show a re-enactment of the King of Pop’s autopsy in Europe.

Ads for the January (11) TV special have already aired in the U.K. and now co-executors John Branca and John MCClain have penned a letter to David Zaslav, urging him to pull the programme out of decency.

In the document, obtained by TMZ.com, they accuse the network’s bosses of operating in “shockingly bad taste… while cynically attempting to dupe the public into believing this show will have serious medical value”.

Branca and MCClain add, “We were especially outraged when a sickening print advertisement for the program appeared making light of Michael’s death by depicting a corpse sprawled on a steel gurney covered by a sheet with a hand sticking out wearing Michael’s signature sequined glove…. The ad is debased, sick and insensitive.”

They conclude the letter with, “On behalf of Michael’s family, fans, common sense and decency, we urge you to reconsider and cancel this program.”

Source: Contact Music

The Los Angeles Times had an interesting article this past weekend about the Michael Jackson Estate and a new legal hurdle it faces. The King of Pop certainly didn’t do much to make it easy for his estate executors or his heirs. This development could add new fuel to the fire between his family and the music executive and lawyer in charge of his estate and trust.

As we’ve written extensively about before, Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson was in a nasty fight with the executors over control of the estate last year. That is, they were feuding until Katherine dropped the legal challenge and stepped aside. In fact, according to the LA Times article, she now feels executors John Branca and John McClain are doing “a very good job”.

The problem is she believes that the cash allowance of $7,000 to $8,000 per month, which the pair gives her from the estate, is not enough. While the estate also pays other expenses for her as well as Michael’s kids (adding up to millions of dollars, according to the estate’s lawyer), Katherine wants more.

So she agreed to business arrangement with a Toronto businessman, Howard Mann, to lend the family’s blessing to his efforts to profit from Michael Jackson memorabilia. Normally, someone like Mann would need estate approval, not the family’s OK, to do this. But Mann feels that with Katherine on board, and a legal loophole, he doesn’t need consent from the estate executors.

Why? It seems Michael had sued a company called Vintage Pop years ago to stop it from profiting from his memorabilia. The company had purchased a collection which originally was compiled by Katherine and Joe Jackson (which they lost when they filed for bankruptcy).

Michael ultimately decided to abandon the lawsuit against this company and stop paying his lawyers. When he did, Vintage Pop won the lawsuit “with prejudice”, meaning Michael Jackson was legally prevented from suing the company for copyright infringement and related claims. In other words, once Michael lost one case against that company, he couldn’t sue again.

That same prohibition also binds his estate. This means the estate executors can’t sue Vintage Pop for similar claims, under a legal doctrine called “res judicata”.

So how does this matter to Katherine Jackson and the Canadian man she granted her approval to (in exchange for several hundred thousands of dollars, of course)? He shrewdly bought Vintage Pop.

So now Mann claims that the legal protection Vintage Pop enjoys also extends to any Michael Jackson-related endeavors he wants to do using that company, just as it did for the prior owner.

In other words, he’s going to use this legal protection, along with Katherine’s approval, and hawk all sorts of Michael Jackson memorabilia. He’s started with a book and calender, but plans a documentary and even remixed music tracks. Because Mann’s MJ items come from a collection owned by Vintage Pop, the legal ruling will protect him, he believes.

Branca and McClain, and their attorney, feel otherwise and promise that Mann’s day of reckoning in court will come. They think Mann’s legal theory is creative, but wrong.

So certainly, they will sue Mann.

What will Katherine do when they sue? She enjoys a 40% beneficial interest in Michael Jackson’s Estate and Trust, while she’s alive. So she obviously wants Branca and McClain to continue making money. But she also has this side deal with Mann, of whom she says she’s “very pleased” because he’s “been very good to me.”

And for now, according to that same LA Times article, the King of Pop’s estate still has more debt than assets, despite the huge movie and record deals in place. Forty percent of an insolvent estate is nothing. So maybe Katherine will support Mann. But, will she really want to alienate the executors who pay her living expenses?

It will likely be a very interesting new legal twist to follow in this never-dull estate.

The moral to all this? Listen to your lawyers! While worrying about legal troubles like this aren’t something very many people will ever have to do, many people make the mistake, like Michael Jackson, of ignoring the advice of their lawyers and causing trouble for their estates when they pass.

For example, many people create a will or trust with a lawyer and then want to make changes, but they do it themselves and try to avoid paying their lawyer a second time. Or they fail to work with their attorney to fund their trust and undermine a big part of the value of a living trust (another Michael Jackson mistake!).

So don’t do what Michael Jackson did when he walked away from his lawsuit against Vintage Pop. Work with your attorneys and follow their advice. If you hire someone experienced in estate planning, or probate litigation if the need arises, trust in him or her to protect you.

Source: Probate Lawyer Blog