時事新聞:傑克遜仍是搖錢樹
【英文原文】
The administrators of Michael Jackson's estate say they have generated $80 million in marketing, merchandising and film deals since they began managing the late singer's affairs five weeks ago.
Attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain, who were appointed by a judge to manage Mr. Jackson's estate, have been trying to capitalize on the soaring interest in the entertainer's career following his sudden death on June 25.
The biggest deal so far has been the $60 million agreement with Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures to produce a film based on rehearsal footage for what was supposed to be the 50-show run of his 'This Is It' concert at London's O2 arena.
The administrators also signed a $15 million merchandising agreement with Bravado International Group, a division of Universal Music Group that is owned by Vivendi SA, which is expected to be approved by a superior court judge on Monday.
They signed another $5 million deal with various companies to produce calendars, coins and school supplies. Two book deals are also in the works. The administrators said they also recouped about $6 million from a financial adviser and other parties, which was being held for the singer before he died.
The estate is trying to push out the merchandise as quickly as possibly to head off a flood of counterfeit paraphernalia that is already seeping into the marketplace. A shipment of Michael Jackson keychains from Turkey was seized recently, Mr. Branca said.
The estate is valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, but comes with a debt load estimated at $435 million. Mr. Branca said the estate will use some of the money generated so far to refinance the debt.
【中文譯文】
邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)的財產管理人說，自5周前開始處理這位已故歌手的事務迄今，他們已通過營銷、商品授權和影片交易獲得了8,000萬美元的收入。
律師布蘭卡(John Branca)和音樂管理人士麥克萊恩(John McClain)被法官指定爲傑克遜遺產的管理人。傑克遜6月25日突然離世，隨後這位娛樂天王的生平引發了極大的關注，他的兩位遺產管理人一直極力利用這個時機實現最大的利益回報。
迄今規模最大的交易是與索尼公司(Sony Corp.)簽定的規模6,000萬美元的協議，內容是根據傑克遜去世前排練的錄像製作一部影片。傑克遜進行的排練本來是爲了在倫敦的02 arena舉辦“This Is It”音樂會，共50場。
兩位遺產管理人還與環球唱片(Universal Music Group)旗下的Bravado International Group簽定了1,500萬美元的商品授權協議。環球唱片爲Vivendi SA所有。這樁交易預計將於下週一得到高等法院法官批准。
他們另外還與衆多公司簽定了總額500萬美元的協議，生產日曆、紀念幣和文具等等。還有兩本書的協議也在計劃中。管理人說，他們還從一名財務顧問和其他一些人手中收回了600萬美元，這筆錢是傑克遜生前留下的。
遺產管理小組力圖儘早推出相關商品，以阻止假冒商品氾濫，假冒商品目前已在市場上悄然出現。布蘭卡說，來自土耳其的一批傑克遜鑰匙鏈不久前被查獲。
傑克遜的遺產價值數億美元，但同時他的負債據估計高達4.35億美元。布蘭卡說，遺產管理小組將利用迄今獲得的一部分收入來償還債務。
