In the months following Michael Jackson's death, the pop star's estate was swamped with lawsuits, debts, custody battles and an endless list of legal troubles. But now, a few months after the King of Pop has already been laid to rest, a new and undeniably absurd lawsuit as been brought against his estate.Universal Music Publishing Group is suing Jackson's estate based on claims that the late pop star used their music without proper licensing. The music in question is R. Kelly's 2003 single, 'Ignition.' A home video of MJ happily singing along to the tune while driving around Miami with director Brett Ratner, was aired on the TV show 'Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies,' back in 2009. The snippet of footage got plenty of air time during the months following Jackson's death, but now Universal is demanding that Jackson's estate pay up. The publishing group has slapped the estate with a $3,000 fee, insisting that they own full rights to the song, but were never paid when Jackson used it.
R. Kelly, who has written a tribute song to the late pop star and made announcements that he planned to finish recording tracks for Jackson's album in progress, has made no comment on the lawsuit as of yet. R. Kelly has worked closely with Jackson in the past, penning the 1995 hit single, 'You Are Not Alone,' which debuted at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
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