Complications in the fate of This Is It

Yesterday, representatives of Sony and lawyers for Conrad Murray, the accused in Michael Jackson’s murder case, met in court to decide the fate of This Is It. The lawyers want to see the footage recorded from Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for the This Is It tour. Sony says these films have a lot of value, and copying them would be very expensive. Apparently, the issue has become complicated, and the judge cannot decide to grant more time to himself and to Sony at this moment. He wants to know exactly what these lawyers want to see. Meanwhile, Sony says that the request from Murray’s lawyers has fundamentally changed over the past few days, and they need more time to review their demand. Bastwick, the company’s lawyer, says that at first Murray’s lawyers wanted the raw footage, and now they are looking for images that two private cameramen captured. The judge is being very cautious. Yesterday he said that even if he agrees to the lawyers’ request, arrangements must be made so that these films never reach the internet or anywhere else. But Sony’s lawyer said that anything shown in court will inevitably leak out, and such footage cannot be kept from being stolen. He added that releasing such images would ruin the company’s future plans for using this footage. "If these films are shown in court, we will immediately see them published on websites like TMZ." At the same time, the prosecutor is planning to show the jury that Michael Jackson was healthy at the moment of death by playing scenes from the released This Is It film. The judge has given Sony one week to see whether there is a way to show the films in court without any risk or danger. The next court session will be held on June 24, one day before the second anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. Source: eMJey.com / abcnews.go.com / CNN.com