Jackson may have no choice but to beat it

Michael Jackson

LOS ANGELES - Lawyers for Michael Jackson and a key creditor are in talks to keep the pop star from defaulting on US$200 million ($290 million) in loans secured by his stake in the Beatles song catalogue.

An attorney for the singer said a default on the loans, due this week, would allow a New York private equity fund, Fortress Investment, to seize Jackson's 50 per cent interest in Beatles publishing rights valued at some US$500 million.

The catalogue, containing more than 200 Beatles tunes that include such classics as Yesterday, is jointly owned by Jackson and Sony through Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Jackson bought publishing rights to the catalogue for about US$48 million two decades ago at the height of his career. Brent Ayscough, a civil lawyer for Jackson, said representatives for the 47-year-old entertainer and Fortress were working to renegotiate terms of the loans to give Jackson more time to avoid default.

And he suggested that the possibility of imminent foreclosure on Jackson's stake in Sony/ATV was unlikely.

"There's no doomsday, or anything like that," Ayscough said. "People are still talking." He said Sony, which music industry experts believe is eager to acquire Jackson's share of the catalogue, was also a party to the talks.

According to prosecution testimony during his sex-abuse trial earlier this year, Jackson had borrowed heavily against his assets, including US$200 million secured by his stake in Sony/ATV. Those loans, first provided by Bank of America, were later sold to Fortress.

Rights to the Beatles music passed to ATV through its purchase of the band's publishing company, Northern Songs, in 1969.

- REUTERS