Talking of lawsuits indirectly involving a Jackson, the Belgian appeal courts have ruled that Michael Jackson's 1995 hit 'You Are Not Alone' was written by two Belgian composers, Danny and Eddy Van Passel, and not the song's producer, R Kelly, who has enjoyed a songwriting credit for the track to date.
The ruling brings to an end a twelve year legal battle over the Jackson song, which the Van Passels claimed was a direct copy of their song 'If We Can Start All Over'. The Belgian songwriters' case was supported by their country's royalties society SABAM, who claimed that their own analysis of the two songs in question showed "the largest part of the melody is identical".
The Belgian courts agreed with that conclusion, essentially proclaiming the Van Passels to be the writers of the chart topping single, meaning they are now due any royalties earned by Kelly from the song. While royalty bodies outside Belgium are not strictly under the jurisdiction of the Belgian courts, SABAM have said they will now put pressure on their counterparts around the world to recover royalties due to their members.