12 September 2007

BRUSSELS (AFP) - A Brussels court has ruled that Michael Jackson's 1995 hit "You are not alone" is largely similar to a song penned by Belgian twins two years previously, local media reported Tuesday.

All the authorial rights of the Jackson number one hit, written by Robert Kelly, alias US singer-songwriter R. Kelly, therefore are switched to the brothers according to the court ruling handed down last week.

The twin composers have fought for 12 years to gain recognition for their work, however the judgment is only applicable in Belgium and getting hold of royalties may be no simple task.

"You are not alone" was released in August 1995, the second single off the multi-platinum Jackson album 'HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'.

It became the first-ever single to debut at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

On their website the Belgian composer-brothers said that the Belgian rights society SABAM had confirmed that "the most important and largest part" of the Jackson hit is "identical" to the Van Passels' work.

[Copyright AFP 2007]

Subject: Belgian news