Heirs who are now defending UMG deal had raised red flags in September.
The Prince? estate is gearing up for courtroom fireworks at a hearing next week on a motion to void its $31 million deal with Universal Music Group for the rights to the late pop star's “vault” of unreleased tunes and other recordings, due to potential conflicts with Warner Music Group’s rights.
In a flurry of court filings this week, Prince’s eldest half sister Sharon Nelson objected to the proposed rescission of the deal on grounds that it would harm the estate’s business reputation. In a separate memo, she and two of Prince’s other half siblings blamed the estate’s new administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust, for failing to defend the the deal, which had been hammered out by Prince’s former attorney Londell McMillan and approved by the estate’s former administrator, Bremer Trust. Those three of Prince’s half-siblings, Sharon, John and Norrine Nelson, now count McMillan as their business advisor and want to preserve the agreement with Universal -- even though they opposed it in a court filing when Bremer initially proposed the agreement last year.
“The UMG Vault Agreement is not only objectionable, it is unenforceable, and, if entered, may expose the estate to a lawsuit,” said the memo of opposition filed by lawyers on behalf of all six of Prince’s heirs in September, though lawyers for the heirs eventually approved the deal.