The Michael Jackson Foundation Reached an Agreement with Howard Mann

Yesterday, before the start of the court hearing into Howard Mann’s copyright violations, an agreement was reached between him and the Michael Jackson Foundation. Under this agreement, he will pay $2.5 million to the Foundation. Previously, Howard Mann had claimed that he could prove his legitimacy by presenting documents. But the judge reminded him that it doesn’t seem he would be able to cover the heavy costs of handling this case, and an expert estimated that the value of the licensing rights Mann had violated was between $5 and $12 million. The agreement reached yesterday ends a year-and-a-half-long dispute over the right to use the name and works of Michael Jackson, and also prevents Mann from repeating these actions. Howard Mann is the CEO of Vintage Pop Media Group. Through this company, Howard Mann managed the website that sold Michael Jackson products, including the memorial book for Katherine. The Michael Foundation had said that 25,000 copies of this 150-page book were sold, generating $1.5 million in revenue for the company, but Howard Mann’s lawyer responded that the actual sales figure was much lower and that his client suffered a major loss. According to Zia Madbar, one of the Michael Jackson Foundation’s lawyers, the company is responsible for paying $2 million of the damages, and the remainder will be covered by Vintage Associates LLC. The latter company was the trustee of the items sold by Pop Media. Howard Mann’s lawyer declined to comment on the agreement, but Howard Weitzman, the Foundation’s lawyer, expressed satisfaction that the Foundation had moved past this case. Howard Mann had also previously claimed that he could challenge the validity of Michael’s will, but the judge warned him that he had no standing to comment on Michael’s will or on the Foundation’s trustees. Source: eMJey.com / Washington Post