The Daily Swarm

Update, from The New York Times:

It did not take long for the Jackson estate to move to rectify the situation. By late afternoon, Mr. Anka said, John McClain, a record executive and producer whom Mr. Jackson named in his will as an executor, called to acknowledge his co-authorship and promise “all due credit and royalties.” The estate also released a statement that said in part, “The song was co-written by the legendary Paul Anka.”

Mr. Anka also said that his lawyers were already negotiating with the estate for compensation.

Rob Stringer, the chairman of the Columbia/Epic Label Group, said in an interview on Sunday that he did not know when Mr. Jackson’s original tape had been recorded and that he had not known about its similarity to the Safire track until Mr. Jackson’s fans discussed it online over the weekend.

Mr. Anka said that Mr. McClain told him: “We took Sony 50 songs, and this was the best of all of them. My thought was that this one sounded different. Now I know why.”

The New York Times:

“They have a major, major problem on their hands,” he said. “They will be sued if they don’t correct it.”

“It’s exactly the same song,” Mr. Anka said. “They just changed the title.”

“This Is It” was based on a tape that Mr. Jackson left behind, containing only his piano and vocal. John McClain, a record executive and producer whom Mr. Jackson named in his will as an executor, built a full arrangement around it, including backup vocals by Mr. Jackson’s brothers. Aside from a few major differences in the lyrics, the song is almost identical to “I Never Heard.”

“I Never Heard”

“This Is It”