In a breach worth $250 million, two hackers in the UK managed to break into Sony's servers and download Michael Jackson's entire 50,000 track body of work, including many unreleased songs. The music label had acquired the catalog for a quarter of a billion dollars from the Michael Jackson Estate in 2010.
The cyber heist was reportedly discovered last April in the aftermath of Sony's week-long PlayStation Network crisis. The two hackers— James Marks, 26, and James McCormick, 25— were later caught and arrested.
Marks and McCormick appeared in a UK court on Friday where prosecutors laid out the charges against them. They are scheduled to stand trial in January 2013.
Sony's purchase of MJ's back catalog is considered the priciest record deal in history. Among the many unreleased songs are said to be collaborations with Freddie Mercury of Queen as well as Will.i.am.
[The Guardian via CNET]
