Paul Anka Claims 'This is It' is a Rip-Off

[bluetopez]

This only further proves that the song is only being used because it had the words THIS IT IT in the lyrics! lol Again Sony sucks! But, leave MJ alone he was never gonna released it so it aint his fault! The only one that is ripping people off is SONY!

 

[MJJ:G.O.A.T]

So what means is, Sony sifted through a bunch of vaulted MJ demo's to find a song that coincides with the film best, they found this unfinished piece with the words "This Is It" in it and just said amongst themselves, "This is what we'll use its perfect, "This Is It", lunch now?"

That's pretty much what I gathered from an NYTimes article. The chairman of the Columbia/Epic group said that they had found a tape that said 'This Is It' and played it. :smilerolleyes:

So this is all Sonys fault, and Anka should be rearing his horns towards Sony Records, and their disgusting publishing tactics. Also, if you think about it, its becoming clear that perhaps there was no actual song Michael was working on during the tour. Which means AEG, and Randy Phillips, and those others who said, Michael was in the studio recording and working on a brand new song for the concerts, blatantly lied.

No I think they could still be right. Remember that MJ's contract with $ony is done (in 2003 I think?). They would have to get permission from the estate to release new (truly new!) material. The estate could go to another record company to release MJ's new material. The NY Times article said that a source told them that the estate had held talks with Universal.

Plus I remember an article which said that Michael was working on 3 albums (one pop, one instrumental and the other I can't remember) and had an interview with the fellow (who had some background in classical music, a composer perhaps? I can't remember completely) who was working with Michael on the instrumental album.

 

[Topflux]

I didnt really understand... Who in the first place said its written by Michael alone..? Everyone knew it's by him and Anka... And Michael must have rights to put it onto his record because he is even the singer there in the original version.

So does Anka think he doesnt get any money from this co-writing..?

Btw, has anyone noticed also 3T's "Why" has similarities with this..? Then, did Anka wrote that too?

 

[Moonlight]

Paul Anka Claims 'This is It' is a Rip-Off

Posted Oct 12th 2009 4:58PM by TMZ Staff
If you think Michael Jackson's "This Is It" sounds familiar, it's because the song is a rip-off that was released nearly two decades ago by another artist ... and the man making this claim is none other than music legend Paul Anka.



Anka tells TMZ in 1983, he wrote a song with Jackson called "I Never Heard" -- and the demo of the song was recorded in Anka's studio in Carmel, CA. Anka says he took the tape to a studio in Hollywood to put the finishing touches on it for Anka's duets album, "Walk a Fine Line." Anka claims Jackson -- who was just blowing up at the time with "Thriller" -- got a big head and "stole the tapes" from the studio.

Anka tells us he called the lawyers who repped both he and Jackson -- ironically one of them was John Branca -- and threatened them with a lawsuit if he didn't get the tapes back. Anka got them back but insists Jackson made a copy of the tapes and used the track with his voice from "I Never Heard" -- and simply retitled it, "This is It."

Anka gave "I Never Heard" to another artist -- Safire -- who recorded it in 1990.

We called Sony Music who released "This Is It" ... no comment so far.

Anka tells us he's talking with his lawyers about his legal options.

See Also

• New Michael Jackson Song Hits the Internet

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0TlD6l82Q


UPDATE:

Anka on Jackson -- They See it My Way

Posted Oct 12th 2009 6:18PM by TMZ Staff

Paul Anka tells TMZ the people handling Michael Jackson's estate are falling over each other .... apologizing for "ripping-off my song" and offering "anything you want" to make the mess go away.

And, John Branca just told TMZ, "We acknowledge that Michael and Paul wrote this song together."

As we first reported, Anka claims the new Jackson song, "This is It" is the Michael Jackson track Anka co-wrote with Jackson in 1983, which Jackson originally recorded under the title, "I Never Heard."

Anka tells TMZ he just got off the phone with John McClain, the co-Special Administrator for Jackson's estate. Anka says McClain apologized profusely, saying he knew "Michael couldn't have written this song alone. It's not his style."

Anka says McClain now acknowledges that "This is It" is really Paul's song, and said, "We'll give you whatever you want, whatever it take's we'll do the right thing."

Anka says he's not trying to hold the estate up but he wants them to be fair.

And how's this .... Anka says McClain asked him to do promotion for the song.

It's Hollywood, folks.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice
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Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0TlN9KR0m


ANOTHER UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MJ Camp -- It Ain't Just Michael's Song

Posted Oct 12th 2009 6:25PM by TMZ Staff

John Branca, the special administrator for Michael Jackson's estate tells TMZ Paul Anka is right -- "This Is It" was not written by MJ alone, it was co-written with Paul Anka.

Branca and his people are negotiating a settlement with Paul Anka's lawyer.

Branca tells TMZ, "We acknowledge that Michael and Paul wrote this song together."

As we first reported, the other special administrator, John McClain, told Anka "We'll give you whatever you want, whatever it takes we'll do the right thing.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0TlQf45vJ
​

Well, given that the MJ Estate Special Admins are in the position to approve everything on behalf of Michael Jackson, they must have known about this release of the 'This Is It Song'. Yet, John Branca fails to remember this same song has been the subject of a lawsuit he's handled before ... yeah right!

Just another way to skim off some more cash ... let's create another lawsuit ~ or make a deal, with a back-hander for ourselves of course ...

Michael is gone, but it's business as usual​

 

[Topflux]

And, this actually isnt the real "This Is It" Sony is releasing. As far as I know Sony doesnt have rights to it....

 

[Marty In LA]

Thank you Mr. Anka for clearing up the origins of 'This Is It'.

Sony/CBS is not interested in revealing the facts of TII, Sony/CBS evidently would rather GIVE THE IMPRESSION that TII is a 'new and original' MJ song and was the 'official theme song' of MJ's final tour. Both of these are misrepresentations of the truth.

Based on Mr. Anka's public statements published in the New York Times newspaper we now know:

1.) 'This Is It' is actually a song called 'I Never Heard'.
2.) The demo tapes that Sony/CBS used to create TII were recorded by MJ in 1983, making the song over 26 years old.
3.) Paul Anka is the co-author of the original song 'I Never Heard' with MJ, a song that Sony/CBS now calls 'This Is It'.
4.) Sony/CBS has yet to credit Paul Anka as the co-author of MJ's TII.
5.) Sony/CBS failed to get Paul Anka's approval to use his song for release.
6.) Sony/CBS renamed 'I Never Heard' to 'This Is It' to coincidentally match the theme of MJ's final concert tour.
7.) Paul Anka currently owns and possesses the 'I Never Heard/TII' MJ master tapes.

Link to the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/arts/music/13anka.html

 

[daisydaisy]

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anka on Jackson -- They See it My Way

Posted Oct 12th 2009 6:18PM by TMZ Staff

Paul Anka tells TMZ the people handling Michael Jackson's estate are falling over each other .... apologizing for "ripping-off my song" and offering "anything you want" to make the mess go away.

And, John Branca just told TMZ, "We acknowledge that Michael and Paul wrote this song together."

As we first reported, Anka claims the new Jackson song, "This is It" is the Michael Jackson track Anka co-wrote with Jackson in 1983, which Jackson originally recorded under the title, "I Never Heard."

Anka tells TMZ he just got off the phone with John McClain, the co-Special Administrator for Jackson's estate. Anka says McClain apologized profusely, saying he knew "Michael couldn't have written this song alone. It's not his style."

Anka says McClain now acknowledges that "This is It" is really Paul's song, and said, "We'll give you whatever you want, whatever it take's we'll do the right thing."

Anka says he's not trying to hold the estate up but he wants them to be fair.

And how's this .... Anka says McClain asked him to do promotion for the song.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0TlN9KR0m
​

How can his publishing be separate when the publishing co owns the song?? Any song MJ wrote belongs to Michael's PUBLISHING.

If I co-wrote a song with you and released it on my own without your permission, you can sue me. It's that simple. There was no permission sought to release this song and if that is the case, Anka has a RIGHT TO SUE.

It's really simple, guys.

What a mess

Is it up to the estate or Sony to make it right with Anka? Doesn't seem fair if Michael's estate has to pay up IF he gets sued, because Michael obviously didn't release this song for legal reasons before.

 

[mj_brainiac]

Not according to BMI, MJ & Paul Anka both share equal portions.

exactly. Not to mention, on the U.S. Copyright Office site has it registered to Michael and Anka, so they share copyright

 

[Earth_Song1]

So if MJ co-wrote it...why would Anka be the only one allowed a copy? Don't get that really. Isn't it as much MJ's song as it is Anka's song if they wrote it together?

You would think so. I mean, that's what I gather.

 

[CherubimII]

Don't worry about Paul Anka.
Paul is actually happy about all the attention he is getting.:cheeky:

I thank God for the return of "Real Music" with lyrics by real songwriters, and music, and a "truly gifted singer named Michael Jackson. This is only the beginning....
The part of the linked article below that is relevant to me is this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/arts/music/12michael.html

QUOTE:
"Sony has rights to release any music Mr. Jackson recorded while under contract. But since there could be as many as two albums’ worth of material made after that deal expired, around five years ago, other labels may also be able to cut deals, and the Jackson estate has held talks with Universal about those recordings, according to people familiar with the discussions but not authorized to speak publicly."

 

[bluetopez]

Sony will give Anka royalties from the soundtrack Cd for the Movie and they all will get paid $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and live happily and ever after! While michael is 6 feet under! Money talks B.S walks!

SAD!

 

[Kuzeh]

Wow...
what a major screw up by Sony and the Executors...
There's a reason why MJ didn't release this song before methinks...

 

[AnnieRUOkay89]

You are right "MJJ", I didn't think into it all that much when I typed that up. But I do think I recall them referring to a song Michael was working on specifically for the shows, and he would release it to the world, when news of "This Is It (The song)" broke, media and music outlets everywhere assumed this was that song, its now become clear that this is not the song.


So my question is, where's the real song? It can be in the hands of the estate and I hope so, but there's also another part of me (no pun intended) that says, it may have been nothing more but a marketing scheme by AEG and Sony.

 

[shimar]

What a mess

Is it up to the estate or Sony to make it right with Anka? Doesn't seem fair if Michael's estate has to pay up IF he gets sued, because Michael obviously didn't release this song for legal reasons before.

What's F*cked up is that Joe & Randy & Jermaine can use this against the "Executors" capacity to handle MJs estate.

Just WAIT for the Jackson Family lawsuit against Branca & McClain with Oxman heading the charge in 3...2...1...

BLASTOFF!!!

 

[Thetruthbetold]

team phony aka sony is corny a fucking shame the new this is itsong still shits on the the other one.. They mad MJ killed the song period

 

[Earth_Song1]

And, this actually isnt the real "This Is It" Sony is releasing. As far as I know Sony doesnt have rights to it....

This says Sony music Entertainment on it. Am I missing something?

http://www.amazon.com/This-Michael-Jackson/dp/B002Q4U9YU/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1#moreAboutThisProduct

 

[xthunderx2]

Sony will give Anka royalties from the soundtrack Cd for the Movie and they all will get paid $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and live happily and ever after! While michael is 6 feet under! Money talks B.S walks!

SAD!

co-signed!!!!!.....and this is only 1 of the MANY reasons why Michael hated Sony....

 

[athina_livadi]

They will settle this one no need to worry.
The movie is right ahead of us!

 

[shimar]

And, this actually isnt the real "This Is It" Sony is releasing. As far as I know Sony doesnt have rights to it....

Understand this:

NO RECORD LABEL has the right to release any material unless they have written consent of the writers and publishing company of the song itself.

From personal experience, Sony is VERY SLOPPY when it comes to this.

 

[HIStory]

Thank you Mr. Anka for clearing up the origins of 'This Is It'.

Sony/CBS is not interested in revealing the facts of TII, Sony/CBS evidently would rather GIVE THE IMPRESSION that TII is a 'new and original' MJ song and was the 'official theme song' of MJ's final tour. Both of these are misrepresentations of the truth.

Based on Mr. Anka's public statements published in the New York Times newspaper we now know:

1.) 'This Is It' is actually a song called 'I Never Heard'.
2.) The demo tapes that Sony/CBS used to create TII were recorded by MJ in 1983, making the song over 26 years old.
3.) Paul Anka is the co-author of the original song 'I Never Heard' with MJ, a song that Sony/CBS now calls 'This Is It'.
4.) Sony/CBS has yet to credit Paul Anka as the co-author of MJ's TII.
5.) Sony/CBS failed to get Paul Anka's approval to use his song for release.
6.) Sony/CBS renamed 'I Never Heard' to 'This Is It' to coincidentally match the theme of MJ's final concert tour.
7.) Paul Anka currently owns and possesses the 'I Never Heard/TII' MJ master tapes.

Link to the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/arts/music/13anka.html

Yeah, this is the good thing that comes out of it. It needed to be made clear for the public that it's an old song, not recent. Now it's clear to everybody at least.

And I'm actually grateful for McClain's comment saying "Michael couldn't have written it alone, it's not his style".

Michael indeed can do a lot better than this song! And IMO he probably has lot better songs among his unreleased songs too. Sony only chose this because of the "this is it" part in it.

 

[shimar]

CORRECT!!!!!!!!

I am a member of BMI, which is the performing rights organization that Michael Jackson also belongs to.

I can do a search on MJs catalog and he has 182 songs listed.

Paul Anka is also a member of BMI.

"I never Heard" is listed under both MJ and Paul Anka.

"This Is It" DOES NOT.

Thank you Mr. Anka for clearing up the origins of 'This Is It'.

Sony/CBS is not interested in revealing the facts of TII, Sony/CBS evidently would rather GIVE THE IMPRESSION that TII is a 'new and original' MJ song and was the 'official theme song' of MJ's final tour. Both of these are misrepresentations of the truth.

Based on Mr. Anka's public statements published in the New York Times newspaper we now know:

1.) 'This Is It' is actually a song called 'I Never Heard'.
2.) The demo tapes that Sony/CBS used to create TII were recorded by MJ in 1983, making the song over 26 years old.
3.) Paul Anka is the co-author of the original song 'I Never Heard' with MJ, a song that Sony/CBS now calls 'This Is It'.
4.) Sony/CBS has yet to credit Paul Anka as the co-author of MJ's TII.
5.) Sony/CBS failed to get Paul Anka's approval to use his song for release.
6.) Sony/CBS renamed 'I Never Heard' to 'This Is It' to coincidentally match the theme of MJ's final concert tour.
7.) Paul Anka currently owns and possesses the 'I Never Heard/TII' MJ master tapes.

Link to the New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/arts/music/13anka.html

 

[KingOfPop1]

What's F*cked up is that Joe & Randy & Jermaine can use this against the "Executors" capacity to handle MJs estate.

Just WAIT for the Jackson Family lawsuit against Branca & McClain with Oxman heading the charge in 3...2...1...

BLASTOFF!!!

How dreadful....

uke:

 

[GinnyJackson]

i hate this with a passion. Its getting harder to grasp that he isn't here to stand up for himself or get the things he wants out... OUT.

 

[Memefan]

Sony were too busy hiring security for the song. What a mess...

Now, the estate will lose money...they will have to split the song earning in half. I hope it comes out of Sony's profits. MJ should not have to pay for this mistake.

So does that mean Anka will go on talk shows to plug the song????

 

[shimar]

How dreadful....

uke:

Trish - c'mon girl, you KNOW this is coming.

It's sad, but true.

They are gonna jump all over this like ants on a leftover sandwich.

 

[aliana101]

Just great. One mess after another.

 

[williamorange1]

MJ got all the bash for this song from the media , now the media are praising Anka for it , although mj co wrote it all the public is gonna hear in the next few days that mj stole it , and on top of that Anka is gonna collect alot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ , just great .

watch him doing the rounds talking about how mj stole it while enjoying all the money he is rightfully entitled to because of sony stupidity and ignorance .

 

[MJLover1990]

Ofcourse... here we have someone again who wants to get money out all of this!
I wonder how many people will stand up and say This Is It is their song :timer: :bored:

 

[Memefan]

CORRECT!!!!!!!!

I am a member of BMI, which is the performing rights organization that Michael Jackson also belongs to.

I can do a search on MJs catalog and he has 182 songs listed.

Paul Anka is also a member of BMI.

"I never Heard" is listed under both MJ and Paul Anka.

"This Is It" DOES NOT.

this is it is only listed under MJ's name, I remember someone posted the copyright listing here a while ago.

 

[wendy2004]

Why can't anything associated with Michael be scandal free?!?! It's so frustrating and Anka has to know it's all Sony's fault. Also, the source IS TMZ so they could have embellished that Michael 'stole' the song. That's what's going to reel them in!

I think it's pretty obvious that Michael was never intending on releasing a final version of this song, more so now with the Paul Anka twist. Sony publicly claimed that they just found it in a box and reworked it so they can release it with the film. They are simply imbeciles over there.

They need to work with Anka now instead of allowing him to spread dirty laundry about Michael.

But what I am confused is that a 'This Is It' song was registered in 1980 right? What if Michael brought in the original song and then he and Paul worked on it and it became 'I Never Heard'? Paul's just mad that Michael didn't allow him to put it on his Duets album.

Totally agree with you about the scandal-free bit. Lawd! SMDH!!

And the first thing that came to my mind was that the song was originally created in 1980 per the Michael credit. I thought the same as you described. Anka claims Michael got a big head and "stole" the tapes, but what if, in reality, it was Anka who tried to take more credit for the song than Michael felt was fair. That, to me, would explain him confiscating the tapes. These reports say the tapes were eventually returned to Anka, but I don't believe Michael kept a copy and retitled it. The origins of that song started from somewhere in 1980 if you believe Michael. For one thing, HOW did the Jacksons vocals get on it? Does anyone know if the brothers did this recently or are their vocals old, too. I thought they were old along with Michael's. IF they are old then they had to have come from 2 time periods... Destiny/Triumph era (where the song was claimed to be originally created) OR late Thriller-era when Michael and his brothers worked on some things for the Victory LP (1984 when the song was registered). If it's the earlier era, then this song dates back pre-Anka. If it was Victory era, then the song is post-Anka and up for debate.

Sad thing is Michael isn't here to defend himself or explain what happened. All we have is Anka's version of events and the Estate basically wanting to throw money at him to go away quietly. There's no defense whatsoever. Maybe instead of attacking Michael, Anka should have jumped on the record company who released it without getting the proper permissions. I still can't believe that cockup! Talk about a WTF moment!

I would think that Sony would have had the common sense to check all that out before releasing the damn song. Good grief.

Agree. My SINCEREST apologies to indranee who saw a lawsuit coming out of this and I thought differently. My bad for thinking Sony and the Estate had taken care of business and couldn't possibly be this stupid and negligent. :doh: %#@& Idiots!

I can't even blame Sony for this mess. John McClain, a special administrator royally screwed up and like I said earlier, Londell McMillian will be all over this. as he just harmed Michael's estate. To not do simple research is pathetic and McClain & Sony need their asses kicked for it.

I blame them both. Stringer is claiming they got the song out of a box? Come on now. What kind of feckery is this? This cannot be!! :blowup: And McClain has the nerve to say he knew MJ couldn't have written the song becuz it's not his style. Again... :wtf2 Did he bump his head and forget Michael CO-WROTE the thing? And Lord knows how many fans were on here saying how the song sounded like other bits of MJ songs. I guess Michael stole those, too. :aggressive:

I hope McMillan is all over this. If mistakes like these keep up, the Executors will end up COSTING the Estate instead of building it up. And they become a liability to the Estate instead of an asset. If this keeps up some may begin to think it's all on purpose. I hate to bring the dreaded "C" word out but...yeah. :mello:

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


MJ Camp -- It Ain't Just Michael's Song

Posted Oct 12th 2009 6:25PM by TMZ Staff

John Branca, the special administrator for Michael Jackson's estate tells TMZ Paul Anka is right -- "This Is It" was not written by MJ alone, it was co-written with Paul Anka.

Branca and his people are negotiating a settlement with Paul Anka's lawyer.

Branca tells TMZ, "We acknowledge that Michael and Paul wrote this song together."

As we first reported, the other special administrator, John McClain, told Anka "We'll give you whatever you want, whatever it takes we'll do the right thing.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0TlQf45vJ​

They have no choice but to acknowledge MJ and Paul wrote the song together. Michael is not here to debate the issue once and for all and say whether or not he felt it was Paul who manhandled the song from HIM. :rant:

now this is something i can understand. all McClain has to do is make sure Sony gives Paul his half of the money. nothing more, and i guarantee Anka will shut up.

Let's hope he will shut up. Somehow I feel that would be too easy and civilized. He will more than likely make the rounds now and get a bit of publicity for himself while trashing Michael in the process...whining about Michael "stealing" his tapes. :blowup: