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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Michael Jackson

The U.S. Tax court ruled that Michael Jackson’s image and likeness is worth $4.2 million compared to the Internal Revenue Service’s estimation it was worth $161 million, finding that allegations of “repellent behavior” destroyed both his reputation and ability to earn much income apart from music. The court added that he went “deeply” into debt to maintain his lifestyle and the value of his image will “now dwindle as his copyrights expire and his image and likeness shuffle first into irrelevance and then into the public domain.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Tax Court ruled that Michael Jackson’s image and likeness is worth $4.2 million compared with the Internal Revenue Service’s estimation it was worth $161 million, finding that allegations of “repellent behavior” destroyed both his reputation and ability to earn much income apart from music. The court added that he went “deeply” into debt to maintain his lifestyle, and the value of his image will “now dwindle as his copyrights expire and his image and likeness shuffle first into irrelevance and then into the public domain.”

Categories / Consumers, Entertainment, Financial

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