Vera Serova: Last News

The Californian Supreme Court has ruled against Sony Music and the Michael Jackson estate in regard to a free speech question that was raised after it was alleged that three tracks on the posthumous Michael Jackson album ‘Michael’ did not in fact feature the star’s vocals.The lawsuit that sparked that question has already been settled and the three disputed tracks removed from the streaming services, so the Californian court’s ruling could be seen as irrelevant. But it possibly sets a precedent of relevance to future music marketing.

Sony Music and the estate of Michael Jackson have settled a lawsuit brought by a fan claiming that three Michael Jackson songs released posthumously in 2010 used vocals by an impersonator instead of the late singer, Billboard reports. The class-action lawsuit was launched by Vera Serova in 2014.

Michael Jackson estate and Sony Music, that alleged the label had released songs by a Jackson impersonator, has been settled after eight years.Back in 2014, Jackson fan Vera Serova filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony Music, the Jackson estate and producers.They claimed that three cuts on the late singer’s posthumous 2010 album ‘Michael’ – ‘Monster’ (featuring 50 Cent), ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Breaking News’ – were sold as official Jackson recordings, despite multiple accusations that they’d been sung by someone else.In 2010, Jackson’s mother Katherine Jackson claimed that “some of the tracks on the album are fake”. His sister LaToya Jackson said: “It doesn’t sound like him.” Taryll Jackson, Jackson’s nephew, also commented on how the songs had been made in a “sneaky and sly” fashion.Some Jackson fans have long disputed the assertion that the tracks actually feature the artist’s vocals.Last month, ‘Monster’, ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Breaking News’ were all removed from the ‘Michael’ album on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music.In a statement, a spokesperson for Jackson’s official website confirmed that the songs were no longer available online, but claimed the move “had nothing to do with their authenticity” (via American Songwriter).The message added: “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 catalogue.”According to Rolling Stone, the lawsuit finally reached its conclusion yesterday (August 10) in the California Supreme Court.

The long-running lawsuit over whether or not three songs that appeared on a posthumous Michael Jackson album actually featured the vocals of an impersonator has been settled. It follows the recent removal of those songs from said album on the streaming services.Released in 2010, ‘Michael’ featured ten tracks that Jackson had started but not finished over his long career in music.

The estate of Michael Jackson has removed three of the artist's songs from streaming platforms, American Songwriter reports. The songs, “Monster” featuring 50 Cent, “Keep Your Head Up,” and “Breaking News,” all appeared on the 2010 project Michael—some fans and members of Jackson's family believe that Jackson did not sing on the tracks, though a representative denied this in a statement to the fan website Behind The Mask.

Michael Jackson‘s posthumous 2010 album ‘Michael’ have reportedly been removed from streaming services amid accusations that the late star didn’t sing on the recordings.At the time of writing, only seven songs from the 10-track record are listed on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. The following cuts have been deleted from those platforms: ‘Monster’ (featuring 50 Cent), ‘Keep Your Head Up’ and ‘Breaking News’.The three tracks in question have been part of an ongoing lawsuit between Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, which claims that they didn’t feature the singer’s vocals.In a statement, a spokesperson for Jackson’s official website confirmed that the songs were no longer available online, but claimed the move “had nothing to do with their authenticity” (via American Songwriter).“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 catalogue.”Filed in 2014 by Jackson fan Vera Serova, the suit came to public attention again in 2018 after the estate and Sony were forced to issue a statement denying that the latter had conceded that Jackson didn’t sing on the trio of recordings.Three appeals court judges ruled in August 2018 in favour of Jackson’s estate and Sony Music, essentially removing them from Serova’s class-action suit (via Variety).