Californian Supreme Court rules on free speech claims in Michael Jackson fake vocals dispute

completemusicupdate.com:

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. Although, what it doesn’t do is offer any conclusion on whether or not Jackson does indeed appear on those three tracks.Released by Sony’s Epic label in 2010, ‘Michael‘ featured ten songs that Jackson had started but not finished over his long career in music.

Work on each track was completed by one of a team of producers, all led by Timbaland. The three tracks that caused the controversy – ‘Breaking News’, ‘Monster’ and ‘Keep Your Head Up’ – all originated from one recording session with producer Eddie Casci.Numerous people – including several members of the Jackson family – argued that the vocals on the final versions of those three tracks were not Jackson’s.

However, the Jackson estate insisted that it was confident that it was Jackson singing on those tracks, publishing a summary of the efforts it went to in order to confirm the authenticity of the music on the ‘Michael’ album.But none of that placated one fan in particular, Vera Serova, who filed a lawsuit over the alleged fake vocals in 2014, naming Sony Music, the estate, and Casci and his company as defendants.