Michael Jackson's Estate settles copyrights lawsuit

Michael Jackson's Estate and a businessman working with Michael Jackson's mother, Howard Mann, settled a copyright infringement lawsuit for $2.5 million on Tuesday, shortly before a trial in the case was scheduled to begin.

The settlement also restricts Howard Mann who used michaeljacksonsecretvault.com, MJgives.com and similar domain names and his companies from using Jackson's likeness without the permission in his Estate.

The Executors of Michael Jackson's Estate filed the case against Mann in January 2011. The Estate is also asking that Mann be forced to pay its attorneys’ fees.

Mann worked with Katherine Jackson on several projects, including a 2010 "Never Can Say Goodbye" coffee table book featuring recollections of her son, and a DVD and calendar featuring what were described as never before seen photos and videos.

All were sold through the "secretvault" website. Mann claimed he obtained the rights to the material at a bankruptcy sale involving members of Jackson's family several years ago.

He also used copyright-protected clips of Jackson's song "Destiny", a logo featuring "King of Pop", images from the "This Is It" movie and a silhouette of the Michael Jackson dancing in "Smooth Criminal" on his websites.

It ends a year and a half of legal fighting over Mann's use of Jackson's name and likeness on a website used to promote unreleased songs, photographs and a book written by Katherine Jackson, filled with recollections of her superstar son.

Mann is the CEO of Vintage Pop Media, which operated the website www.michaeljacksonsecretvault.com until it was ordered shut down last month by a federal judge who ruled the site violated copyrights controlled by the Jackson's Estate.

Under the terms of the settlement, announced in court by Estate attorney Zia Modabber, Vintage Pop Media Group is responsible for $2 million of the judgment, while the entity Vintage Associates LLC is responsible for the remainder. Vintage Associates is the custodian of the items that were at issue in the case.

Mann's attorney, Lee Durst, declined comment after the hearing. Howard Weitzman and Zia Modabber, the attorney's for Jackson's Estate, said in a statement that the "settlement seems appropriate for all concerned". "The Estate is delighted this matter is behind us," Estate attorney Howard Weitzman added.

The settlement also blocks the use of materials from "Thriller" that had appeared on Mann's website.

A jury trial on how much Mann owes the Estate had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, with an expert estimating a license for the works is worth between $5 million and $12 million.

Mann's attorneys rejected a settlement offer last week of $2 million. They sought to introduce evidence that they were given bad legal advice about having to license the works and have considered calling Katherine Jackson as a witness. The Jackson family matriarch is one of the beneficiaries of the Michael Jackson's Estate, along with his three children.

U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson has noted that Mann doesn't appear to have the resources to pay a large judgment. The defendants' ability to pay was not discussed in court on Tuesday.

Sources: CBS / AP