Las Vegas' MJ Live has sued Michael Jackson's estate after lawyers for the Jackson estate threatened to sue the act for trademark infringement.
In a complaint filed Wednesday, the body behind MJ Live asked a judge to allow the show, which features a Jackson impersonator, to continue at the Tropicana and other US cities. He also accused the Jackson Estate of trespassing of of intellectual property, according to Advertising sign.
In the lawsuit, the show claims it has put on more than 3,600 shows since 2012, but that the estate only recently began sending cease-and-desist letters to venues asking them to cancel upcoming MJ Live tour dates.
MJ Live's attorneys claim they have not violated any trademark or likeness rights, citing both First Amendment free speech protections and Nevada's likeness laws that allow the legal use of impersonators in live performances.
“For the past eleven and a half years … plaintiff has spent millions of dollars advertising and promoting MJ Live's show,” MJ Live's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit, per Advertising sign. “Plaintiff estimates that over 2,500,000 audience members, clapping and singing along in their seats, jumping to their feet and dancing in the aisles, have experienced the joy, excitement and thrill of MJ Live.”
Neither Jackson's estate nor representatives for MJ Live responded Rolling rockhis request for comment.
The MJ Live team further argued that the Jackson estate was infringing on their intellectual property by naming their Broadway show MJ The Musical. He also claimed the cease and desist letters to block dates as “intentional and unfair interference” with his business.
The Broadway jukebox musical opened in 2022 to critical acclaim. “You'll leave the Neil Simon Theater both confused by Jackson's music, but also struggling with what was and wasn't incorporated,” wrote one Rolling rock review of its opening night.
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