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Court hearing updates

Vici

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The lawyer for Michael Jackson's kids is set to appear in court for the first time today, as lawyers for the estate and Katherine Jackson's lawyers try to reach an agreement on merchandising all things Michael.

Updates from TMZ

-And we're done for the day. Biggest headline -- the judge has approved a major Jackson merchandising deal, but there is still one more deal (with AEG for a Jackson memorabilia tour) to be decided upon.

-The judge has set an evidentiary hearing for Friday -- so it looks the AEG deal won't be approved (or denied) until then.

- An attorney for AEG says the company wants the deal taken care of this week.

-The judge has ordered a short recess in the hopes all sides can reach an agreement on the AEG deal today.

-The lawyer representing Jackson's kids isn't sure the AEG deal is the best deal out there.

- One of the lawyers for the special administrators is worried that if the AEG deal isn't approved soon, AEG will pull it off the table.

-All parties involved continue to express the time constraint they are under -- everyone wants the deals done ASAP

-The attorney for the kids just said she is not objecting the AEG deal

-An attorney for Katherine just suggested the lawyers for estate have pulled the guardian ad litem towards their side.

-The deal with Bravado, to produce various different kids of Jackson memorabilia, has been approved. This deal will generate millions of dollars for the Jackson estate.

- Howard Weitzman, the attorney for the special administrators, has stated that one of the beneficiaries approves the AEG deal, but one is against it. We've been hearing Katherine is not happy about the arrangement, so she is probably the one who has objected.


- The judge has set a tentative date to hear Katherine's safe harbor petition. What that means is that Katherine wants to file an objection to the special administrators, but doesn't want to do so if it would be considered protesting the will. Jackson's will contains a no-contest clause -- meaning anyone who challenges it loses their inheritance rights.


- The judge said that if it weren't for Katherine Jackson's procedural posturing, both parties would not have to spend as much time in court

- The judge said he agrees with Lodise -- there needs to be a simpler process put in place so the special administrators of Jackson's estate don't have to go before the judge to do every single thing.

- The judge wants to come up with a trial date for Katherine Jackson's objection to the permanent appointment of the special administrators.

- Margaret Lodise, the guardian ad litem for Jackson's kids, has submitted a report to the court

- Claire Elisabeth Fields Cruise, the woman who claims to be the bio mom of MJ's kids, is in the courtroom. Let the fun begin!
 
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Jackson kids now have lawyer; estate debate continues


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The newly named lawyer for Michael Jackson's children makes her first court appearance Monday as a judge decides if he'll approve a contract between Jackson's estate and concert promoter AEG Live.


Michael Jackson's estate will be the subject of a court hearing today.

Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, who has custody of the three children, objected to provisions of the deal that would give AEG Live a share of rights to video of her son's final rehearsals.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff appointed estate law expert Margaret Lodise last week to represent the children after he decided their interests might sometimes conflict with their grandmother's.

Despite warnings by estate lawyers that a delay could cost millions of dollars, Beckloff delayed his decision on the AEG Live contract one week to give the children's new lawyer time to weigh in on the deal.

The contract would provide for an exhibition of Jackson memorabilia that would travel to at least three cities, according to Kathy Jorrie, a lawyer for concert promoter AEG Live.

"The longer we wait, the more time passes, frankly, the less interest there will be on the part of the public to come see it," Jorrie said.

The judge has already approved a contract to allow Columbia Pictures to use video that AEG Live shot of Jackson's last rehearsals for a documentary due out this fall. Columbia is a division of Sony Pictures.

Sony Pictures said it would deliver the movie -- "This Is It" -- to theaters starting October 30 "with the full support of the estate of Michael Jackson."

Court papers filed last week revealed that Columbia Pictures would pay a minimum of $60 million for the rights to make the Jackson movie.

Katherine Jackson's lawyers, while endorsing the movie deal, have objected to terms given to AEG, saying they are too generous to the company.

Jackson's lawyers objected to the estate's agreement to let AEG recover all its expenses from that money, then take 10 percent of the remainder. It also gives the company a perpetual share of the profits from the video rights.

AEG Live's lawyer said the company had made many concessions to the estate and could not make more.


The judge previously has said he might approve the contracts even over Katherine Jackson's objection.

Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson's older brother, told CNN's Larry King recently that he likes the deals, which he said could bring in nearly $100 million into the estate.

Katherine Jackson and Michael Jackson's three children are the main beneficiaries of the estate, which is controlled by Jackson's former lawyer, John Branca, and longtime Jackson friend and music executive John McClain.

Branca and McClain were named in Jackson's will as executors. Katherine Jackson is considering a challenge of their control of the estate.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/17/jackson.estate/
 
This thing as was mentioned before is designed to work against Katherine.

So what's the use of Katherine objecting if the court is going to ignore her anyway.

She objects, the judge appoints a lawyer for the kids, the lawyer sides with the estate administrators and then the judge approves, ignoring Katherine.

Now the next move is to obliterate objection by setting up a process where they don't have to appear before the judge for every little thing.

And the judge calls Katherine's objections "posturing".

So essentially, even if she can object, she is not supposed to object.

It's a pity. The corruption of the system.

From now on, the lawyer appointed by the Judge will be siding with the administrators. She has nothing to lose. She is being paid and has no attachment to Michael or Katherine so she could care less.

Why spend hours researching merchandising deals and objecting when she gets paid the same anyway regardless of whether she objects or not.

The lunacy of the system.

Katherine is trying to fight for more income of the estate, AEG has insurance, when MJ passed, they have no claim, they were insured.

As for merchandizing, the estate has so many options with companies lining to market merchandise, they could get better deals.

Oh well, we sit back and let the system run its course
 
Im missing something..

What kind of AEG deal is Katherine and NOW the kids lawyer objecting against?
Thought the judge already approved the movie deal last week but the article that SexyMamaJo posted indicates that Katherine is not happy about the movie deal.
 
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SexyMamaJo said:
Court papers filed last week revealed that Columbia Pictures would pay a minimum of $60 million for the rights to make the Jackson movie.

Katherine Jackson's lawyers, while endorsing the movie deal, have objected to terms given to AEG, saying they are too generous to the company.

Jackson's lawyers objected to the estate's agreement to let AEG recover all its expenses from that money, then take 10 percent of the remainder. It also gives the company a perpetual share of the profits from the video rights.

AEG Live's lawyer said the company had made many concessions to the estate and could not make more.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/17/jackson.estate/
Click to expand...


So am I reading this correctly? :huh: So from the $60 million dollar deal, AEG is trying to recoup their loses PLUS 10% of whatevers left of the $60 million after they've already taken their first cut? Plus a share in the video sales? WTF? :wtf: I knew that 90% to 10% deal they tried to feed the public seemed waaayyy off.

It will be interesting to see what expenses AEG claims they should be recovering????? They better not throw in the supposed advanced "production cost" for Dr. Murrays services. :mello:
 
Lily said:
So am I reading this correctly? :huh: So from the $60 million dollar deal, AEG is trying to recoup their loses PLUS 10% of whatevers left of the $60 million after they've already taken their first cut? Plus a share in the video sales? WTF? :wtf: I knew that 90% to 10% deal they tried to feed the public seemed waaayyy off.

It will be interesting to see what expenses AEG claims they should be recovering????? They better not throw in the supposed advanced "production cost" for Dr. Murrays services. :mello:
Click to expand...

This is the reason why fans shouldn't support this mess.
 
SexyMamaJo said:
This is the reason why fans shouldn't support this mess.
Click to expand...

I agree and I called bullshit on this deal when it was first announced, I heard 90% to 10% and thought it was a joke. AEG are just another group of trolls that surrounded Michael. Between this and reading Tohme's death threats on the family in that other thread that sound eerily similar to the same one the guy from Juliens Auction received, all this reading is making me pretty sick today. -_-
 
Lily said:
I agree and I called bullshit on this deal when it was first announced, I heard 90% to 10% and thought it was a joke.
Click to expand...
The problem with judging these deals is we don't know the details. We hear 'minimum of $60 million from Columbia pictures' - minimum? What's that based on? How high can it go? We hear "90%/10%" split, but we don't know exactly of what - the initial amount? Any amount over the initial amount? What?

It's impossible for us to say it's a dodgy deal, or a good deal, without knowing those details, they're crucial.
 
Vici said:
Im missing something..

What kind of AEG deal is Katherine and NOW the kids lawyer objecting against?
Thought the judge already approved the movie deal last week but the article that SexyMamaJo posted indicates that Katherine is not happy about the movie deal.
Click to expand...

Well from what I'm gathering from these updates is that Katherine endorsed the movie deal, but is objecting to some memorabilia tour that AEG is planning. So she IS happy about the movie, but not happy about this memorabilia tour.
 
Judge approves Michael Jackson merchandising deal

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY (AP) – 43 minutes ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9a7kycTsBsS5YVilTVuapWmQ4JgD9A4UGHO1

LOS ANGELES — A judge has approved a deal that will bring Michael Jackson merchandise to store shelves.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff approved the deal during a court hearing Monday. Beckloff heard from attorneys for Jackson's mother, Katherine, the current administrators of Jackson's estate and a newly appointed attorney for the singer's three young children.

The merchandise agreement allows for items such as trading cards, clothing and digital goodies to be sold. The judge had delayed approval of the agreements after Katherine Jackson had raised objections to the contracts with concert promoter AEG Live and merchandiser Bravado.
Those objections were withdrawn, but the lawyers raised new objections to AEG's involvement in a proposed memorabilia tour, which is still awaiting approval. Beckloff scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Friday on whether the tour is the best deal for Jackson's estate.

Kathy Jorrie, an attorney for AEG, said the exhibition faces a tight deadline and its interest might wane if the tour isn't approved soon. She said the company was not interested in renegotiating the deal.
AEG wants the memorabilia tour to open at the same time as a movie using footage of Jackson's final rehearsals for a series of London concerts. The deal is expected to generate about $7 million for the estate, said Howard Weitzman, an attorney for the current administrators of the estate.

One of the concessions Katherine Jackson is apparently seeking is the authority to sign off on the deal. Beckloff said he was inclined to reject that argument."She doesn't own the property," Beckloff said. "There's no reason to make her a signatory to those agreements."

Burt Levitch, an attorney for Katherine Jackson, said there was more than money at stake: He said the singer's legacy is on the line and that there is concern Jackson's estate isn't receiving the best deal from AEG.
Beckloff said he was in a difficult position and was concerned that delays in approving the deal — which was first proposed nearly two weeks ago — are hurting the estate.

"I see the delay as a real problem for the estate," Beckloff said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
 
I like that the kids have a lawyer looking out for their legal interest for the future...

I think Katherine has a good lawyer, Llondell, but the flaw I see with the objections to some of the deals for the estate... is postering... I keep thinking Llondell feels slighted that Michael didn't do a new will and make him the executor...

Joe is in Katherine's ear ...and can sway her from doing what Michael wants ...
 
No, I agree with Katherine. Why would I want to see AEG have a perpetual right to the images of my son when I think they killed him directly or indirectly? They want to recoup costs, and then get 10% of the remainder and THEN get perpetual video image rights? On the otherhand, if that deal is similar to what is on the contract that MJ signed then i would say go ahead with that plan. But if MJ signed a contract that gave AEG a finite amount of profit, then I would fight their proposal tooth and nail.
 
AEG are greedy ba$tards! Wasn't the budget for these concerts $25 mil? They just sold rehearsals for $60mil, not to mention $30 t-shirts off AEG site and whatever else. Now perpetual video rights and 10% here there and everywhere? Talk about milking it...and since when are there time constraints on exploiting a dead man's name. Merchandise deals can be shopped around...Sounds like Katherine is being bullied and the judge is allowing it. Doesn't surprise me...just makes me furious!!!
 
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