ABC USA is airing a special The Last Days of Michael Jackson Thursday (24 May).
The special, airing just ahead of the ninth anniversary of his death, includes a biographical section, selections from interviews he did with Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer, and “new” interviews with Derek “Cooley” Jackson (taught Jackson dance moves), Navi (impersonator) and Lisa Staub (tour operator).
The estate of the late singer has released a statement distancing itself from the ABC production:
We want consumers to know that The Last Days of Michael Jackson, a television special airing on ABC TV (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) tomorrow May 24, is not sponsored or approved by the Estate of Michael Jackson. It is particularly disheartening that Disney, a company known to strongly believe in protecting its own IP rights, would choose to ignore these rights belonging to the Estate.
ABC was using a copyrighted photo and silhouette image owned by the Estate in the trailers and promotional material for the special. Only after notice from our attorneys to ABC News indicating they were infringing on our IP rights were the materials removed. We are told ABC intends to use music and other intellectual property owned by the Estate such as photos, logos, artwork, and more in the program itself, without having licensed the rights to any such material. Imagine if this was done with any of ABC’s intellectual property. We believe the special to be another crass and unauthorized attempt to exploit the life, music and image of Michael Jackson without respect for Michael’s legacy, intellectual property rights or his children.
The Estate of Michael Jackson
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