Sony Bid $50 Million For Michael Jackson Tour Rehearsal Footage

Sony are said to be the frontrunners to acquire film rights of the footage of Michael Jackson's tour rehearsals after putting in a $50million bid. Jacko's tour promoters AEG Live have offered the major movie studios such as Sony, Paramount, Fox and Universal the rights to 1,200 hours of footage of the King of Pop rehearsing for the shows, according to sources at the Los Angeles Times. However, it is claimed Sony's massive bid, along with the fact its music division controls the distribution of Jacko's output as an adult solo singer and can block other studios from using his songs, has put them in the lead for the rights. It is claimed the company also owns the "sync" rights to the majority of Jacko's tracks, which means it owns the rights of when recorded music is put together with visual images - a key part of the DVD release. Tour promoters AEG have also put the broadcast rights to the footage up for sale for a prime-time TV special, which shows the choreography that had been created for the concerts. It is claimed that competition is strong between the studios, and an insider said the special will air in September. The source added Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and will.i.am could feature.