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Paul Anka Claims 'This Is It' is a Rip-Off

Posted Oct 12th 2009 4:58PM by TMZ Staff

If you think Michael Jackson's "This Is It" sounds familiar, it's because the song is a rip-off that was released nearly two decades ago by another artist ... and the man making this claim is none other than music legend Paul Anka.



Anka tells TMZ in 1983, he wrote a song with Jackson called "I Never Heard" -- and the demo of the song was recorded in Anka's studio in Carmel, CA. Anka says he took the tape to a studio in Hollywood to put the finishing touches on it for Anka's duets album, "Walk a Fine Line." Anka claims Jackson -- who was just blowing up at the time with "Thriller" -- got a big head and "stole the tapes" from the studio.

Anka tells us he called the lawyers who repped both he and Jackson -- ironically one of them was John Branca -- and threatened them with a lawsuit if he didn't get the tapes back. Anka got them back but insists Jackson made a copy of the tapes and used the track with his voice from "I Never Heard" -- and simply retitled it, "This Is It."

Anka gave "I Never Heard" to another artist -- Safire -- who recorded it in 1990.

We called Sony Music who released "This Is It" ... no comment so far.

Anka tells us he's talking with his lawyers about his legal options.

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Tags: i never heard, INeverHeard, michael jackson, MichaelJackson, paul anka, PaulAnka, sony, sony music, SonyMusic, this is it, ThisIsIt

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(Page 1 of 28) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

1. i have said it before & i will say it again LEAVE MY MJ alone u big weirdos.

Posted at 5:04PM on Oct 12th 2009 by arlene

2. Paul Anka + Song = Big Money To Him!

Posted at 5:05PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Socalkid

3. This is the same kind of crap MJ delt with in life. Please let him rest in peace. The news his fans and loved ones want is the arrest of all people involved in his death. JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL JACKSON!!!! I Love and miss him more everyday!

Posted at 5:06PM on Oct 12th 2009 by LuvMJbad

4. Paul Anka, MJ sung it better you failed.

Posted at 5:06PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Knyte

5. Wow. That is pretty eerily similar.

Posted at 5:06PM on Oct 12th 2009 by lostsassafarss

6. Michael Jackson sings it way better anyways.
R.I.P. Michael

Posted at 5:08PM on Oct 12th 2009 by KC

7. Well i suppose now Sony has released this song the haters will criticize Michael and not Sony for publishing....im sure MJ didnt want this released.

Posted at 5:08PM on Oct 12th 2009 by OMFG

8. Yup- TMZ-- we've been saying that all morning. LOL

But interesting what Paul Anka has to say about it. Different from what SaFire said on her MySpace page the day MJ died. Maybe she didn't know the behind the scenes.

But INTERESTING that Branca may have known about this-- Hmmmmm. Maybe he never heard the song back then?

Will continue to give Branca benefit.... Anka, let's see what else he has to say. If he wrote the song with MJ, and then gave the song to SaFire-- and she doesn't object to it being played... does Anka still have a case?

Posted at 5:08PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Cali MJ Fan

9. Both sound exacly the same. He just didn't have 'it' in him anymore. In any event, the song is boring. They can both have it.

Posted at 5:09PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Daisy

10. Wow... blatant ripoff. With all due respect to Michael, the melodies and chord progressions are identical as well as some of the lyrics. Last I checked, 1981 came before 1991. That said, Paul Anka has a legit reason to pursue any legal action necessary.

Posted at 5:09PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Mr J

11. MJ co-wrote the song...why would he need to steel the tapes. Don't make sense.

Posted at 5:11PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Kazzar

12. I like the song, but I don't think MJ would have wanted this song released, being almost exactly the same as Safire's version. And I really hope it sounds better on the radio, it sounds kinda fuzzy...

Posted at 5:27PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Sara

13. It is the same song ...Music companies do it all the time re release. If MJ is singing it sells more copies than Saffire...Now all they have to do is pay Paul Anka...The Estate ...Publishing Company lol AEG.

Think there is enough pie to go around. lmao!

Posted at 5:11PM on Oct 12th 2009 by Roe50

14. Michael is not here to defend himself. Sony is the one that released this song, not MJ. It is definitely a demo, not the real thing. Michael would have been very upset to have this song released this way, he was a perfectionist and this song was not perfect. Plus, Sony had his brothers sing background and added an orchestra, I don't think Michael would have approved of this release.
Of course, Sony is only out to get money, they don't care about anything else or how Michael would have felt having this demo released. It's not even in the concert, the song is supposedly sung after concert is done. So, I don't believe for a minute that Michael okayed this demo to be part of the concert.
Sony, AEG is greedy, Michael hated Sony and he didn't trust or like Randy Phillips, that should tell you something.

Posted at 5:12PM on Oct 12th 2009 by randi

15. this could be exactly why michael never released it people! who knows? and he shouldnt be faulted since he wasnt the one who released the song. anyway, he sounds a million times better than safire singing it.

Posted at 5:12PM on Oct 12th 2009 by kitty

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