Michael Jackson’s estate has filed a lawsuit over photographs of the late star.
The estate are suing a movie memorabilia store for auctioning off historic photos of the ‘Thriller’ singer – who died of acute Propofol intoxication in June 2009 – taken during the Jackson brothers’ 1984 ‘Victory’ tour.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Michael hired a photographer to shoot the concerts and his company owned all the rights to the pictures.
However, the estate claims Premiere Props put the photos up for auction and misled potential buyers into believing they would also own copyright on the images – making the lots even more attractive as the buyer could make a fortune reprinting and selling the pictures.
According to its website, Premiere valued the pictures at between $200 and $2,000.
The estate are suing for all auction profits and to stop the company from selling any more Michael memorabilia.
This isn’t the only legal battle the estate is currently involved in.
Noval Williams Films have filed documents in Manhattan Supreme Court after the late star’s representatives tried to block the sale and release of ‘Michael Jackson: The Last Photo Shoot’ with a cease-and-desist order over the use of footage in the film.
The estate had claimed the company do not have rights to use behind-the-scenes photos and videos of Jackson’s 2007 cover shoots for Ebony and L’Uomo Vogue, but Noval Williams insisted in a previous lawsuit they do own the rights and the legal motion against them has impeded the sale of the documentary.
It is believed the Jackson family were offered the chance to purchase the rights to the video but passed up the opportunity before the director decided to buy the footage in May last year.
Michael Jackson estate sue over auction
