Michael Jackson's Estate & Sony Music Reach Settlement Over Fake Songs Dispute

Sony Music and the estate of Michael Jackson have settled after a battle over claims of several songs being sung by an 'impersonator.'

The lawsuit between Sony Music and Michael Jackson's estate has ended in a settlement. After several posthumous songs by the "King of Pop" were removed from streaming services, allegedly sung by a "Jackson imposter," on Wednesday (August 10), Billboard reported that both the label and estate ended their dispute with a formal agreement.

“Regardless of how the Supreme Court may rule, the parties to the lawsuit mutually decided to end the litigation, which would have potentially included additional appeals and a lengthy trial court process,” Sony and Jackson’s estate said in a joint statement to Billboard.

Both parties added that, “the simplest and best way to move beyond the conversation associated with these tracks once and for all.”

The news comes eight years after a Jackson fan filed a lawsuit against the Off the Wall singer's estate and Sony Music, claiming that three tracks from his 2010 posthumous album Michael used fake vocals. In 2018, a judge ruled that it was uncertain if Jackson sang on the tracks, thus clearing the estate and Sony Music. In July, the label removed the songs from Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.

A spokesperson for Jackson's official website spoke with American Songwriter about the decision.

“I should point out that the removal of these three songs has nothing to do with their authenticity,” the spokesperson said. “The Estate and Sony Music believe the continuing conversation about the tracks is distracting the fan community and casual Michael Jackson listeners from focusing their attention where it should be – on Michael’s legendary and deep music catalog.”