Jackson estate settles with Heal the World charity

The estate of Michael Jackson reached a settlement this week with the Heal the World Foundation (HTWF).

The charity was sued in 2009.  the estate alleged that the charity misused trademarks to associate itself with Michael Jackson’s now defunct charity of the same name.

HTWF said Jackson’s lawyers had given it permission to run the foundation in 2005.

A trial was due to begin to decide ownership of the trademarks.  Now with this agreement, although specifics have not been released, it appears the charity can no longer use the Heal the World name or Jackson’s likeness.

Jackson’s estate had sought to block the use of words and phrases associated with the star, including “King of Pop” and “Thriller”.

Trouble began for the charity when it registered a number of Jackson-related trademarks, applied for a further 41 and sold merchandise using them.  When we visited the site following MJ’s death, his image was all over the site leaving any reader to believe it was his original foundation.  That is probably where the trouble began.

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.

HTWF’s current director, Melissa Johnson, claimed one of Jackson’s former lawyers told her the pop star wanted her to run the foundation in 2005.  Recently, the charity added Jackson’s three children also collaborated with the charity, sitting on its youth board of advisors and his mother Katherine.

Let us know what you think.