Michael Jackson's Back Catalog Said To Be Among 50,000 Stolen Sony Music Files

Nearly a year after Sony Pictures and the PlayStation Network faced targeted hacking attacks, it has emerged that Sony Music had its own breach in the US in 2011. Two British men appeared in a UK court on Friday over charges they illegally downloaded more than 50,000 Sony Music files – most of them by the late Michael Jackson. The duo was arrested last May, just a month after Sony faced a massive breach to its PlayStation Network and a month before website Lulz Security claimed it had broken into SonyPictures.com. The alleged British hackers are said to have stolen the Jackson music, including many unreleased songs, and works by other artists. In 2010, Sony and the Jackson estate signed the biggest recording deal in history giving the company the rights to sell the singer’s entire back catalog along with previously unreleased tracks. Sony is said to have realized the songs had been compromised during routine monitoring of Jackson fansites and hacking forums. The Britsh men have denied the allegations and are due to stand trial next January.