Michael Jackson "This Is It"

October 12, 2009, (Sawf News) - Paul Anka and Michael Jackson co-wrote the newly released single This Is It, Jackson's estate managers have acknowledged, promising to give Anka "all due credit and royalties."

"The song was co-written by the legendary Paul Anka," acknowledged a statement issued by Michael Jackson's estate managers - attorney John Branca and music executive John McClain.

Anka appeared completely satisfied with good reasons. He says 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."

According to TMZ, Anka is now a 50% partner in the This Is It publishing rights.

This Is It, the title track from Michael Jackson's upcoming double album and documentary film, bears a resemblance to the 1991 track by the R&B singer Safire - I Never Heard, which was co-written by Jackson and his friend Anka.

In an interview Monday morning, October 12, Anka said he had not been contacted before the release of the single and the lyrics for it had been exclusively credited to Jackson.

"They have a major, major problem on their hands," Anka said. "They will be sued if they don't correct it."

According to Anka, he and Jackson wrote and recorded the song, then titled I Never Heard, as a duet in 1983 in Carmel, Calif., for Anka's album Walk a Fine Line. However, the two friends subsequently fell apart and Jackson took the recording with him.

Anka retrieved the original tape and copyright documentation only after threatening to sue for it.

A copy of the original recording was found in Michael Jackson's vault and assumed to be his copyright.