Quincy Jones Photo: CFP

Music producer Quincy Jones sued Michael Jackson's estate on Friday, seeking millions of dollars in royalties generated from some of the star's biggest hits after the King of Pop's death.

Jones, who worked on Jackson's three biggest solo albums - Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad - also named Sony Music Entertainment, the parent company of Jackson's longtime label, Epic Records, in the breach-of-contract complaint.

Jones accused the music giant and the song company controlled by Jackson's estate, MJJ Productions, of denying him royalties, fees and profit-sharing as they exploited Jackson's work through the posthumous concert film This Is It.

His claim, brought in Los Angeles Superior Court, also mentioned two Cirque du Soleil productions based on Jackson's music, accompanying soundtracks and the 25th anniversary edition of Bad.

According to the lawsuit, master recordings of songs Jones produced were remixed and edited to deprive the 27-time Grammy-winning producer of compensation he was entitled to under agreements with Jackson dating back to the 1970s and 1980s.

Jackson died in 2009 aged 50 in Los Angeles from an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol, which he was taking as a sleep aid as he was preparing for series of comeback concerts.

The movie This Is It, filmed during rehearsals for those concerts, generated more than $260 million at the box office worldwide.

The lawsuit seeks at least $20 million in damages - $10 million for each of the two master contracts that Jones claims were breached.

"Quincy has been frustrated with these matters for a number of years, felt he was not making any progress and needed to take more formal action," Jones' lawyer, Henry Gradstein, told The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Reuters