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The Daily News Dec 16 We Won't Stop Now:)

mariemarie

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Many articles involving the executors of Michael Jackson's estate are requesting most of the fees they have so far earned in carrying out the role, are in the headlines today, as you know! What else? Not much, but there's the famous hot picture of Michael dancing on tables!!




Michael Jackson estate administrators seek payment

LOS ANGELES – The administrators of Michael Jackson's estate and a cadre of attorneys are seeking millions for managing the King of Pop's affairs after death, court documents filed Tuesday show.

It's unclear how much exactly will be paid out.

The administrators of Jackson's estate, attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, are seeking five percent of money the estate has earned so far.

The administrators and attorneys have not been paid since Jackson's death on June 25, the filings state.

The estate may have earned $100 million or more with the sale of rights to the concert film "This Is It," new music releases and merchandising agreements.

But Jackson's estate also faces significant debt and a lawsuit cites at least 10 lawsuits that are still pending. They include suits over the rights to "Thriller," Jackson's iconic song and music video directed by John Landis, and lawsuits filed by former associates.

The filings state that a detailed accounting of the estate's earnings is not ready, but attorneys have filed some financial records for the judge to review.

Many experts believe that Jackson's estate earnings could eclipse those of another famous, and profitable, music icon — Elvis Presley.

"Unlike the typical estate, the operation of Michael Jackson's estate is more akin to the operation of a multimillion dollar business enterprise," attorney Jeryll S. Cohen wrote in a filing.

She wrote that many of the attorneys working the case have spent up to 14 hours a day on the case, and that not approving the fees soon will create a financial hardship.

Branca is asking the five percent be paid to his firm. The filing states he is not asking for a personal fee for administration of the estate.

Payments would also go to a variety of firms, including one representing the interests of Jackson's children.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 4 to decide how much can be paid out.



Showtime commercial for Moonwalker

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_commercial/13273/





Today in
Michael Jackson History​
1995 - Janet Jackson's single "The Best Things In Life Are Free" debuted at #7 in the U.K. The single was a duet with Luther Vandross. ​

2003 - Michael Jackson's album "Number Ones" was certified Gold by the RIAA. ​

2004 - FOX News reported that Deborah Rowe had been subpoenaed to testify in the Michael Jackson child-molestation case. ​


MJ-One-More-Chance-michael-jackson-.jpg
 
LOVE the picture *saves to desktop - oh it's already saved, heehee*
 
Since Branca and McClain are estate administrators, I'm confused as to exactly whom is actually in charge of paying the bills and the lawyers. Must everything, including the payment of the estate administrators, be presented before a judge and then the judge determines who get's what/how much/when?

I know Michael's world r/t lawsuits, complex money matters, etc., is mind boggling, but for it to take what will soon be 6 months for any type of payment for services rendered seems quite long for those going without even a minimum amount.

Edit. I just found a separate thread dedicated to this topic that was lower down the page. It does offer some enlightenment on the subject. http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83664
 
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I always thought these fees were determined by law.
Why would an executor need to go to court?
Of course they deserve their legal fees plus a bonus for all the hard work, but why does it look like going against something?

I so hope I'm wrong.
 
I guess they are taking this before a judge so nobody can say they are not being open about how or who is getting paid for what services etc.
 
Bob Seger beats out Michael Jackson and the Beatles for best catalog album of the decade

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/bob_segers_greatest_hits_beats.html
He had some big names to beat, but one of Detroit's biggest rock stars managed to come out on top.

The 1994 album "Greatest Hits" by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band has been named the best catalog album of the decade by Billboard, beating out the Beatles' "1" and Michael Jackson's "Number Ones."

The album went platinum eight times and was the most-sold compilation album of the 2000s.

Seger has since released other compilation albums, including "Early Seger Vol. 1," which was just released last month, but this one struck a chord with fans.

The track list includes popular hits such as "Roll Me Away," "The Fire Inside" "Old Time Rock and Roll" and "Like a Rock."

The second album on Billboard's list is Bob Marley's "Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers."

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" came in third, Metallica's self-titled compilation took fourth and the Beatles' "1," fifth.

Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" was on the list at number 9.

Check out the complete list here:
http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-decade-end/catalog-albums?year=2009
 
Nobody out of the US knows him, nobody..., maybe Canada..., but... in the rest of the world... he is totally unknown....

Anyway, a Greatest Hits compilation should NOT be considered as a standard album...
 
I just dont understand why all American stuff is considered as something worldly???

There is also the EU, Asia... Africa.. south America...
 
Did The Best Things In Life Are Free really get released in England in 1995 3 yrs after the US?
 
Moonwalker.Fan said:
I just dont understand why all American stuff is considered as something worldly???

There is also the EU, Asia... Africa.. south America...
Click to expand...

you're absolutely right. it's a problem with the American media and the system. hence, the "World" Series etc. American history (what little there is of it) is based on American exceptionalism and isolationism. it's one of those things that's very uniquely American. it can be a pain in the a$$, I know... but it's a fact.
 
MJ OPUS PRE-SALE ORDERS TOP 20K
9th December 2009
'The Official Michael Jackson OPUS' offers plenty of never before seen imagery for fans! The lush coffee-table book is full of never-seen-before images of the King of Pop. It had pre-sale orders topping 20,000 copies.
The black-and-white photos of Michael Jackson are remarkable not only as previously unreleased images of one the last half-century's most photographed men. They also reveal much about the pop superstar's abiding impulses: his impish sense of humor, his fealty to yesteryear's master showmen and his concern about his own place in the pop culture firmament.
Sporting a threadbare black suit, pancake makeup and a miniature brush mustache, Jackson is a doppelgänger for Charlie Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character from 1921's "The Kid." The photos, taken in 1994 by Steve Whitsitt, were originally intended as a companion piece to the Chaplin-inspired video the director-photographer was shooting for "Smile" -- the cover of the silent comedian's famous song that appears on Jackson's "HIStory" album. But when the Chaplin estate issued a cease-and-desist order to stifle "Smile's" release as a video and single, Whitsitt abandoned the photos to his archives.
Until earlier this year, that is, when the photographer received a surprise phone call from photo editor Deborah Wald, who was working on a new Jackson omnibus. "I asked him if he had something special, something of Michael that hadn't previously seen the light of day," Wald said. "And he said, 'I think I have something.' "
Whitsitt's seven photos, as well as some 300 other images of and for the King of Pop that have never before been seen publicly, provide the backbone for "The Official Michael Jackson Opus": a lushly produced coffee-table book that came out Monday. The price is lush too: $249.
Intended as a "visual greatest hits" of the singer's career, the leather-bound, 400-page tome is the only publication officially sanctioned by the Jackson estate since his death by acute propofol intoxication in June.
It is composed of long-lost photos by a number of the pop superstar's personal photographers -- some 80% of the never-before-published images are courtesy of Wald's archival research and dealmaking -- and provides an arresting glimpse of many of the extravagant artworks and eye-popping murals Jackson commissioned for his Neverland Ranch and Las Vegas mansion -- some of which already have critics cackling, such as a painting of him nearly naked.
As well, "The Opus" includes personal essays about the performer written by a select group of Jackson intimates, a crazy quilt of boldfaced names that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Motown founder Berry Gordy, magician David Blaine, choreographer/ex-"American Idol" judge Paula Abdul, former backup dancer (and ex-husband of Jennifer Lopez) Cris Judd, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and "Thriller" director John Landis.
Turns out that three months before his death, Jackson began negotiating with Kraken Opus, an imprint specializing in top-quality, small-batch, elegantly bound titles that typically cost between $2,100 and $40,000 apiece. Shortly after the announcement of "This Is It," Jackson's planned sold-out, 50-date concert comeback series in London, the publisher approached him about producing two books: one to showcase the concerts and another, more comprehensive one that would encompass the entertainer's entire life in the limelight.
At a meeting at Sony studios in April, Jackson revealed himself to be a savvy consumer of coffee-table books.
"I remember him asking about how the paper was made and the hand-stitching on the binding, the colors we used in the printing process," said Jordan Sommers, executive vice president of Opus Media Group. "He was asking about the paper stock by name."
"He had an overall command of what he wanted," he continued. "But there was nothing cynical about him. What struck me was his combination of childlike wonderment, that sort of curiosity that comes from innocence, yet being so focused and confident and self-assured."
Opus President Jeff Wald, Deborah's husband, had known Jackson off and on since he was a teenager and retains long-standing ties to the special administrators of Jackson's estate, John Branca and John McClain. So after the singer died, "The Opus" was among the first Jackson-related intellectual properties to be approved by a Los Angeles County Superior Court.
As Jeff Wald points out, unlike the deluge of quickie Jackson books rushed to market in the immediate aftermath of the pop star's death, "The Opus" always was intended to be distinguished by a higher level of Jackson access.
"All these books were cut-and-paste jobs, retread garbage," Wald said. "Our goal was original writing, not red carpet sound bites, things that hadn't been seen by anybody before. And every word in here was vetted by the estate."
Weighing in at 26 pounds and measuring 30 by 18 inches, "The Opus" arrives as the rare coffee-table book that is almost as big as a coffee table. But the book might be as notable for what the editorial team chose not to include as for what "The Opus" contains.
Absent is the kind of imagery that made Jackson such a galvanizing figure in the final decade of his life: the entertainer dangling his infant child Prince Michael II over a Berlin hotel balcony in 2002; Jackson treating frenzied fans to an impromptu dance routine outside a 2004 arraignment after pleading not guilty to felony child molestation charges (for which he was acquitted the following year); Jackson dressed in a woman's traditional Islamic veil and robe, shopping in a Bahraini mall in 2006.
"Because all the photos and information of the last dozen years focused on the negative, the mandate for all of us was to do a high-end scrapbook for his kids," Sommers said.
Nonetheless, for the last half-year, everything Jackson-related has sold like gangbusters and there is no reason to expect differently for "The Opus," released just in time for the holidays. The Sony-distributed backstage documentary "Michael Jackson's This Is It" has become the top-grossing concert film of all time. And the performer continues to rack up posthumous accolades, winning five American Music Awards last month, including artist of the year.
Likewise, "The Official Michael Jackson Opus" has become Kraken Opus' bestselling title to date with pre-sales of more than 20,000 copies -- a major sales figure for the small-run imprint.
But according to the brain trust behind "The Opus," the publication's primary objective was met before a single copy sold. "We wanted a tribute that's positive and fair," Sommers said. "He was not only a brilliant dancer-singer-fashion icon, he was a fascinating human being."
Source: LA Times
 
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