Michael Jackson Estate and Walt Disney Company Settle Lawsuit Over TV Special

Last month, a deal was announced with a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' producer for an estate-approved biopic.

December 20, 2019

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A lawsuit between the estate of Michael Jackson and The Walt Disney Company has been settled.

The suit, which Deadline points out was centered on the ABC TV special The Last Days of Michael Jackson, was said to have been settled via an agreement approved by both parties after the estate initially took issue with the use of MJ's "image and music" in the 2018-aired TV special.

"The dispute with Disney has been amicably resolved," Jackson estate lawyer Howard Weitzman said, per Thursday night's report.

According to the estate's initial claims made in the suit filed back in May 2018, the team behind the ABC special had not asked for permission regarding the use of Jackson's image and music. The estate said at the time that they had not been made aware of the special—which was also alleged to have included unauthorized use of music videos, live performances, doc footage, and more—until "days" before its debut.

While ABC did take down related promo photos, other materials remained, with the company citing "fair use" qualification under copyright law.

In November, word came down the pipeline that Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King had bagged a deal for an estate-approved biopic on the late King of Pop. John Logan (of Gladiator and Sweeney Todd fame) has been enlisted to pen the film's script, which—according to a Deadline report at the time—will not be a "sanitized" take on Jackson's life and career. Instead, the filmmakers want to tell "his entire" story.