When a New Jersey-based auction house attempted to sell three cassette tapes that contained unreleased recordings by the late pop star, Michael Jackson’s estate objected.
In a TMZ statement, Jackson’s estate denounced the auction, describing it as a “sad attempt by an auction site to mislead the public.”
The estate says that it owns the material on the cassettes, which it claims are merely copies of original master recordings.
It further asserts that the auction winner would not have the right to copy, distribute, or publicly play the recordings due to copyright restrictions.
The tapes are listed with a minimum bid of $85,000 and are expected to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000.
