In the latest update about this case, I had reported that the defendants (Cascio, Porte, Sony and Estate) were planning to file dismissal requests and anti- SLAPP motions. Recently both Cascio/Porte and Sony/ Estate have filed their motions.

Note: Sony/ Estate and Cascio/Porte have different lawyers and therefore filed two separate motions. In this blog post I’ll focus on Sony/ Estate’s demurrer and anti-Slapp motion as it is more detailed. Cascio/Porte motion pretty much repeats the same thing. Motion can be found at this link :  https://www.scribd.com/doc/298495674/Sony-MJ-Estate-Antislapp-Motion

First a little reminder about what is SLAPP and Anti- SLAPP? As I have previously explained “Lawsuits brought to scare, harass and intimidate defendants or restraint of business is called SLAPP.  The motions filed by the defendants against such cases are called anti-SLAPP. In this instance it means that the defendants are planning to argue that the MJ fan who brought this case doesn’t really expect to win the case but brought this case in attempt to silence and intimidate the defendants in order to prevent them from saying that the Cascio songs are performed by MJ. It is possible that the defendants will argue that saying MJ sang these songs are their constitutional right under freedom of speech.”

In order to succeed in their anti-SLAPP motion defendants will need to prove that the statements they made (and mentioned in the complaint) are protected under the right of free speech in connection with an issue of public interest.

The statements at issue here are Weitzman’s statement sent to the fan clubs, Sony Music’s statement (sent to the media), statement written at the back of the “Michael” album, statements in a video about the “Michael” album and Cascio’s statements at Oprah show. (See the end of this post for the above mentioned statements.)

One of the ongoing cases is about the ownership of The Michael Jackson Company. Quadree El-Amin, Broderick Morris, Aldean King and Raymone Bain combined claims ownership on 15% of the Michael Jackson Company. A non-jury trial to determine the ownership of Michael Jackson Company is ongoing on LA Superior Court probate section. This post is going to cover the court documents as well as the media reports of the ongoing trial.

First a timeline of events:

May 26, 2006: MJ arrived in Tokyo, Japan. He participated in some promotional events and meetings with company owners.

May 30, 2006: MJ entered into an operating agreement with Bain for a new company “The Michael Jackson Company”. Bain would serve as president and COO of the company. This document did not list any ownership structure for the Michael Jackson Company. Document states Bain was to get 10% finder’s fee for the business deals happened due to her efforts. Document stated that the investors and Board of Directors were to meet between June 16-30.

June 1, 2006: According to El-Amin, Morris, King and Bain’s claims MJ met with them, told them he was unable to compensate them for their services and gave them ownership interest in the Michael Jackson Company and a seat as board of the directors. According to the signed meeting minutes document El-Amin, Morris and King was supposed to get 1.6% share, Bain and Katherine Jackson was to get 10%.