Sony Music and Michael Jackson's Estate have successfully fended off claims they had produced phony recordings of the singer. The judged presiding over the 2014 class action lawsuit has decided in favor of the defense. Back in 2010, rumors persisted that three songs on MJ's posthumous album Michael were recorded by an impersonator. Four years later a class action suit was mounted by Vera Serova, a Michael Jackson superfan that looked into the matter. She concluded that "Breaking News," “Monster," and "Keep Your Head Up" were indeed recorded by a fake-MJ bearing some resemblance to the original.
Her judicious attempt at uncover what she perceived as a lie, was met by Sony Music hiring "forensic musicologists" to perform a relative autopsy on the records in question. Sony enlisted the sound engineers and technicians present on the day of recording to build their counterargument. As of today, not one but three appeal courts have ruled in favor of Sony Music and Michael Jackson's estate on the basis that neither has conclusive evidence to prove their argument one way or another, thus the singer's relatives can not be held responsible "under commercial speech and are protected under the First Amendment."
Happy 60th MJ, never a day goes by, phony or otherwise.
