Unauthorized Michael Jackson Releases
X1:
My goodness--this sounds like something out of Sex, Lies, and Videotape! I've just been informed that there is a version of a boxed set which has been re-discovered with respect to Michael's art. Well, we've got the Lies and the Videotape part in the form of DVDs but we will omit the first part as that's not required here.
However, this is a scandal--that it is!
Honestly, there are many different versions floating around with a template and logo in tow to dupe unsuspecting fans into thinking that they've got the real thing. So we folks at INX decided to take this boxed set on a spin to see what it was all about. The boxed set that we questioned would be the one depicted below.
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| As Seen On: "Alleged Michael Jackson Box Set" |
Now this advertisement for the sale of this "alleged box set can also been seen by clicking here.
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WARNING--NOT AN OFFICIAL RELEASE
BX:
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| MJ History Logo |
Now I have just seen something weird on Facebook--really weird! Someone
states that "BAD25" is supposed to be in stores for US$200 (?)--I
checked amazon.com. The price for the Deluxe Edition is still at
US$34.99.
This same someone wonders how the Staples Memorial made it
onto a box set that was published in September 2009 since the contract
between the Estate and Sony was only signed first half of 2010--last
time I checked this box set is anything but an official box set.
This same someone maintains that the Estate is ripping off the fans
"once again"--last time I checked there is something for everyone's
budget here. And what about the various reprints while Michael was
among us--Ultimate, Essential, Thriller 25... were these also "rip
offs"? 
BAD is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year *so it is
legitimate to release a BAD edition on this occasion*. Even more, it is
not just legitimate, it is REQUIRED. We can, of course, celebrate the
25th anniversary of BAD with a re-edition of Mozart's Serenade No. 13
for strings in G major (K. 525)... maybe this is what this someone is
looking for?
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X1:
These charlatans will just mass produce vast bootleg quantities of a concert, slip the disks
in a jacket, and sell them in a case with some MJ Logo! This is what we've pegged as bootlegging in NYC. Does anything below in that picture appear to have a Sony/Epic distribution label on it? I really can't fathom how anyone would be
mistaken by this as it isn't misleading. There are no identifiable markings which connect it with the Estate of Michael Jackson or Sony/Epic Distribution none whatsoever! It seems that people don't evaluate anything before they go amongst the community and spread falsehood everywhere they can regarding a sub-par product! With things like this you don't know what may arrive at your doorstep. Again, I must reiterate and I do need to ask if China Wholesale,DropShip from China,China dropshipper appears to resemble Sony/Epic, Sony/LEGACY, Nocturne Productions, Inc. (Michael's production company of choice) or the Estate of Michael Jackson?
I
can't account for the rest of the world but that's what we
call it here cut and dry--bootleg. Let me say that not everything with an official
looking logo is legit. Some people have actually been so bamboozled that they are mistaken concerning this one release in particular. Some
people seem to think that this box set is legitimate--WRONG!!! THIS IS
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T DO YOUR HOMEWORK. YOUR POSTS GET SMA$HED! If anyone should purchase these types of things you do so at your own risk as this is buyer beware! If you think this is going to fly as a piece of valid memorabilia you are sadly mistaken and you will waste your money on something which has no value should collecting be your forte.
*Besides there's only been one "official release" of the Michael Jackson Ultimate Collection which I know of and I own a copy.
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Just a few days after June 25, 2009 the Better Business Bureau issued a warning regarding merchandise related to Michael:
June 29, 2009:
"According to Smartmoney, before Jackson’s death, sellers listed an average 200 to 400 memorabilia items daily on eBay, but by the morning following his death almost 20,000 Michael Jackson-related items and memorabilia were for sale on the auction Web site. Items included autographs, gloves, posters, newspapers and even a Cheeto which supposedly predicted the death of the pop star. In addition to memorabilia, commemorative items are already being mass produced and sold to fans—including t-shirts and special edition magazines. Because the value of collectibles is largely dependent on how rare an item is, mass-produced commemorative items are not likely to appreciate in value."
Michael Jackson Memorabilia-Sentimental Value Only
June 30, 2009:
"At times like these, scams become abundant. And while collectors and fans want to snag a great piece of history, it behooves consumers to be cautious.
"The cause of Michael Jackson's untimely death still needs to be determined, and already people are seeing suspicious and awkwardly written e-mails appear in their in-boxes offering supposedly authentic items from the pop singer's life," Steve Bernas, chief executive officer of the Better Business Bureau office in Chicago, said in a statement."
Buyer Beware
It appears some people did not read those warnings!
Here is a recent, similar case involving Elvis Presley which just serves to show how ubiquitous this is:
"Copyright infringement lawsuits were filed in Florida last week and in England today on behalf of Elvis Presley Enterprises, which wants to stop the commercial sale of a DVD/CD set that it alleges contain bootleg recordings and audiovisual footage of Elvis Presley concert performances... The box set in question contains footage from a 1977 television special called "Elvis in Concert" as well as raw footage of Elvis in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, the Associated Press reports."
Moreover, this box set uses the History MJ logo which at the time of the publication of this box set (September 2009) was not owned by the Estate of Michael Jackson--see below--a clear warning sign for anyone halfway familiar with matters Michael.
"This year, he lost control of Jackson's trademark "MJ" logo to a German businessman,
Wolfgang Rath. Rath runs TePax, a German investment company that owns
the technology to make flat, wall hanging high-end stereo speakers. Rath
said he made a deal with Jackson, via Wiesner, to put Jackson's
(removable) image on the speakers. In turn, Wiesner ordered thousands of
speakers for Jackson to give or sell to fans. "The problem started as
MJ Net Entertainment never paid any of our invoices," Rath wrote to me
from his sickbed yesterday. "So we have already delivered several
systems, which they never paid for, and in addition we have about 10,000
systems in our warehouse, which were built for them. Our channels are
totally filled up, so no one knows what to do with the product." Rath
said he wrote to Jackson's representatives and got no response.
Eventually, he said, TePax won two cases against Wiesner in court and
gained the rights to the Jackson trademark. "But merchandising is not
our core business and after another six months time of no reaction from
mj net we start now our second step and try to sell our rights on the
logo.The only problem is that exactly now MJ has a really bad image in
Germany, but of course this can change. So we are now willing to do
anything to sell some of the remaining stock and the logo to get a small
compensation for our loss." One would think that buying back the
Jackson logo would be something Sony would be mildly interested in. But
Rath said Sony declined to get involved. "Their only comment was that
they don’t deal with MJ any longer." He adds, "It would be a disaster if
we send Sony a letter mentioning they are not allowed to use the logo
any longer and they have to take back even all old CDs from the German
market. This would cost them millions." Wiesner's German lawyer, Thomas
Stein, told me yesterday that he was surprised to hear about his
client's activities, but didn't know him well. Wiesner, through a
spokesman, said that he never owned any businesses involving
prostitution, just restaurants with bars. "I've never been convicted of
fraud. Fraud was alleged, but the case was resolved," he said."
Fox News 2003
More details are available under the following link:
UD THE ULTIMATE DISRESPECT X1 Blogger
More details are available under the following link:
UD THE ULTIMATE DISRESPECT X1 Blogger
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Wembley The Origin
X1:
Now let's take a look at this from the perspective of this concert, its origin and Michael:
Now let's take a look at this from the perspective of this concert, its origin and Michael:
"There has been several professionally filmed concerts released or
leaked from Yokohama, Tokyo, Osaka and half of Brisbane. Despite these
three releases and several amateur videos from various concerts across
the whole tour, many fans are disappointed that professionally filmed
full concert footage of the second leg has not been released. His
Concerts in Tokyo and Rome (both in 1988) leaked in the Internet through
collectors. However these collectors refused to release the full
concert and only 15 – 30 Minutes were leaked. In August 2005, fans
created an online petition to support an official release of a Bad Tour
concert in 1988, with heavy interest in the release of a London concert
at Wembley Stadium. Although footage of concerts at Wembley were
prominently featured in promos and music videos such as Another Part of
Me, the entire concert has never been released. Although the target was
10,000 signatures, the petition continues to grow even to this day, with
a total of more than 20,000. Jackson himself stated he never wanted the
concerts released in full, preferring fans to see him live. After
rumors speculating the release of a concert in 2012 to mark the 25 year
anniversary of the Bad album, Sony announced plans to release special
'Bad 25' packages on September 18, 2012, including a digitally advanced
'Bad' album, a CD of demos and outtakes, a live concert CD and the much
anticipated release of a Bad concert from Wembley-Stadium, London on
July 16th 1988, reportedly from Jackson's personal collection. The
concert was attended by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. The footage
sourced from a VHS in Jackson's personal collection."__________________
MICHAEL'S WISHES
X1:
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"I don't ever want to be buried I would like to live forever." -Michael Jackson
vs.
Michael Jackson Live @ Wembley
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Moments like these come once in a lifetime. This moment which was captured above can't be recreated or duplicated. Once these precious moments are gone they're gone forever, I'm afraid. I say we hold on to those moments and this is critical. It's critical because Michael isn't here to create new ones for us to enjoy. So here we have an opportunity to experience a concert which Michael did @ Wembley and I think we should be grateful that we're getting such an opportunity! If we were to apply that statement in a general way which Michael made regarding his audience coming to see his show live and in full we wouldn't have the magical moments we have above. For the individuals that don't agree that this footage should be released I have the following to state to you below.
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X1:
Does anyone realize here that if these concerts weren't released we wouldn't have memorable moments like this one:
Moments like these come once in a lifetime. This moment which was captured above can't be recreated or duplicated. Once these precious moments are gone they're gone forever, I'm afraid. I say we hold on to those moments and this is critical. It's critical because Michael isn't here to create new ones for us to enjoy. So here we have an opportunity to experience a concert which Michael did @ Wembley and I think we should be grateful that we're getting such an opportunity! If we were to apply that statement in a general way which Michael made regarding his audience coming to see his show live and in full we wouldn't have the magical moments we have above. For the individuals that don't agree that this footage should be released I have the following to state to you below.
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UNSELFISHLY BRIDGING THE GENERATIONAL GAP
The only way I see remembering and honoring the legacy of Michael Jackson is by Michael living vicariously
though his music and art in our hearts. I believe that when he was alive he wanted people to come and visually witness his art. Just because Michael wanted us to see him live doesn't mean because he's not physically here with us he didn't wish for us to see
it at all! If we couldn't for some reason see him live while he was with us physically then we will now have the ability to cherish those moments by enjoying this never released video footage from Wembley! I can't speak for you--no buts about it--I will be doing just that. I believe that every artist
wants to share their art with people.
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| GLEE |
I think that they also want their art to continue to be relevant long after they've left the world in a physical sense. I try not to be selfish and I think Michael has a place in the current generation and many to come. Please allow them the opportunity which we had. I think that many are taking this thing with Michael saying no to things musically and artistically while circumstances were different too gravely.
I think that under these circumstances we'd find Michael's answers to certain statements to be quite different. I also think that the reason he gave his estate the power to do what it needs to do is because he put that trust in them to continue his artistry. He knew he had those demos, full songs, and unreleased footage so that he could secure the future of not just his children but his art as well (I state that will a huge smile). Michael was brilliant when it came to things like this and I think for the most part we are going to get another really spectacular show! There may perhaps be many which will disagree with me here and argue this point. However, my state of mind is that if you don't support it don't ruin it for the people which do. You have a right to support or approve of what you should choose--again please don't ruin it for others which are about to have some enjoyment in life.
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$Item Pricing & Fanbase Politics
X1:
For the record I would like to address something else. People are under the impression that the
items for sale are expensive with regard to the Bad 25 promotion. I beg to differ there are
items for everyone's budget from a record all the way up to an
expensive one of a kind Bad 25 Jacket which is a recreation of the
original Bad Tour Jacket. I'm going to give you a price rundown for all
the items there and everyone can get what they can afford then I am
going to post the price of another box set and allow you to view
that :)
*Current prices denoted below are taken directly from the MichaelJackson.com website. The URL for the site is provided at the bottom of this price listing:
- $6.99 Just Can't Stop Loving You 7" Single (Vinyl): Individually numbered, featuring rare spoken intro and the original B-side
- $12.99 Michael Jackson Live At Wembley 7.16.1988: Sourced from Michael Jackson’s personal VHS tape, the only copy known to exist
- $15.99 BAD - 25th Anniversary (2 CD): Includes bonus CD of additional material from the BAD sessions and new remixes CD
- $22.99 BAD - 25th Anniversary (Picture Vinyl): A unique picture disc featuring the tracks from the original album
- $44.99 BAD - 25th Anniversary Deluxe (3 CD/1 DVD): Featuring three CDs, two collectible booklets, and the first ever authorized DVD release of a concert from the record breaking BAD tour
- $199.99 BAD 25 Deluxe Collectors Edition: the ultimate fan experience, enclosed in a unique BAD-themed case
- $325.00 BAD Tour Staff Jacket: a replica of the BAD World Tour crew jacket
http://
Now we will do some comparison shopping to establish what the average box set prices are set at for other well known artists. You may click the pictures below to be taken to the respective sites which sell these items:
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| Nirvana - Nevermind [20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition] [Geffen] by Nirvana $107 |
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$87.99 The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story (3 CD/3 DVD) [Box set, Deluxe Edition] |
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58.33 Queen 40 Limited Edition Collector's Box Set [Box set] |
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$44.99 BAD - 25th Anniversary Deluxe (3 CD/1 DVD) Featuring three CDs, two collectible booklets, and the first ever authorized DVD release of a concert from the record breaking BAD tour |
-X1
