时事新闻:杰克逊仍是摇钱树

【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.

【中文译文】

迈克尔•杰克逊(Michael Jackson)的财产管理人说，自5周前开始处理这位已故歌手的事务迄今，他们已通过营销、商品授权和影片交易获得了8,000万美元的收入。

律师布兰卡(John Branca)和音乐管理人士麦克莱恩(John McClain)被法官指定为杰克逊遗产的管理人。杰克逊6月25日突然离世，随后这位娱乐天王的生平引发了极大的关注，他的两位遗产管理人一直极力利用这个时机实现最大的利益回报。

迄今规模最大的交易是与索尼公司(Sony Corp.)签定的规模6,000万美元的协议，内容是根据杰克逊去世前排练的录像制作一部影片。杰克逊进行的排练本来是为了在伦敦的02 arena举办“This Is It”音乐会，共50场。

两位遗产管理人还与环球唱片(Universal Music Group)旗下的Bravado International Group签定了1,500万美元的商品授权协议。环球唱片为Vivendi SA所有。这桩交易预计将于下周一得到高等法院法官批准。

他们另外还与众多公司签定了总额500万美元的协议，生产日历、纪念币和文具等等。还有两本书的协议也在计划中。管理人说，他们还从一名财务顾问和其他一些人手中收回了600万美元，这笔钱是杰克逊生前留下的。

遗产管理小组力图尽早推出相关商品，以阻止假冒商品泛滥，假冒商品目前已在市场上悄然出现。布兰卡说，来自土耳其的一批杰克逊钥匙链不久前被查获。

杰克逊的遗产价值数亿美元，但同时他的负债据估计高达4.35亿美元。布兰卡说，遗产管理小组将利用迄今获得的一部分收入来偿还债务。