MJ estate settles dispute with ‘Heal the World’ charity
April 21st, 2011 - 7:07 pm ICT by ANI
London, Apr 21 (ANI): Michael Jackson’s estate has reached a settlement with the Heal the World Foundation (HTWF), which it had sued in 2009 on grounds that it has no right to use the late singer’s image or likeness to solicit money.
The estate had alleged it had misused trademarks to create an association with Jackson’s now defunct charity of the same name, reports the BBC.
HTWF said Jackson’s lawyers had given it permission to run the foundation in 2005.
The charity can no longer use the Heal the World name or Jackson’s likeness.
The deal came as a trial was due to begin in a bid to decide ownership of trademarks.
Jackson’s estate had sought to block the use of words and phrases associated with the star, including “King of Pop” and “Thriller”.
The foundation had registered a number of Jackson-related trademarks, applied for a further 41 and sold merchandise using them.
The settlement calls for Jackson’s estate to retain the rights to the Heal the World charity and rights to any trademarks the current foundation held.
Jackson founded Heal the World in 1992 but later abandoned it as he fought child abuse allegations. (ANI)
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Tags: bbc, child abuse allegations, king of pop, lawyers, likeness, london, michael jackson, money, phrases, thriller, world charity, world foundation