4/13/2011

Michael Jackson Estate vs. Melissa Johnson - John Branca Testimony

Updates in the above titled case:

- The MJ Estate has started to file it's witness testimony summaries today, starting with John Branca. Branca said that he has been hired by MJ first in 1979, and last time in early June, 2009. He says that Triumph International Inc. is fully owned by MJ and was always for the purpose of handling his trademarks since 1984. He insists that MJ's contract with AEG had the option to perform in other venues after the O2 concerts. He says MJ approved AEG to use his name and likenes in regards of the concerts. As well MJ personally approved Bravad in early June to manufacture the merchandises for him. He has been presented with 300 items, out of them 295 he approved. Due to MJ's untimely death the MJ Estate started to re-negoiate this deal as well they included other rights, and on August 21, 2009 the parties signed a new deal for the MJ related merchandises.
On August 7, 2009 Johnson's then attorney sent a message to the MJ Estate claiming that some of the MJ trademarks are owned by Johnson and not his estate. Branca saw this effort as an attempt to interfere with the estate's business issues.
Branca said that in the first 16 months period since MJ's death his estate paid off $9 million to Katherine and the kids. He says that the MJ Estate didn't decide on the distribution of the charity money yet. But when they will, they want to make it as big as MJ was. Branca claims that Johnson's attempts interferes with this effort. He talk about Johnson's shady past as she claimed to be told by an "angel" that her destiny is to work for MJ.

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