The Michael Jackson Biopic Just Set a Box-Office Record — and Lionel Richie Wants to Own His Own Voice

Two stories from the same week tell you everything about where music IP is headed: one artist is trying to lock down his voice as a trademark, while a dead one just generated $91.1 million at the box office.

Written by Grant Hollis · Bureau Media · Jun 20, 2026

$91.1 Million for a Dead Man's Story

The Michael Jackson biopic opened to $91.1 million at the global box office, setting a record for music biopics. That number isn't just a Hollywood win — it's a data point for every rights holder, estate manager, and catalogue investor paying attention.

The biopic business has become one of the more reliable revenue levers for legacy music IP. *Bohemian Rhapsody*, *Rocketman*, *Elvis* — each one drove streaming spikes, catalogue sales, and licensing activity that outlasted the theatrical run. The Jackson film follows the same playbook, and the opening weekend suggests it's executing it well.

For the estate and its partners, the box office is almost secondary to what comes next: the sync deals, the playlist placements, the merch, the documentary follow-ons. A $91.1 million opening is a marketing event as much as it is a revenue event.

Lionel Richie Wants to Own His Voice

On the other end of the week's news, Lionel Richie is pursuing a trademark on his own voice. This is not a copyright claim on a recording — it's an attempt to establish his vocal timbre and delivery as a protectable commercial identity.

The legal distinction matters. Copyright covers a specific fixed work. A trademark, if granted, would cover the use of something that sounds like Lionel Richie in a commercial context — which is exactly the kind of protection that becomes relevant when an AI can generate a convincing vocal clone in minutes.

Voice trademarking is not new in concept — Tom Waits famously won a case against Frito-Lay in 1992 over a sound-alike ad — but pursuing it proactively as a registered trademark is a different, more aggressive posture. It's the difference between suing after the fact and building a legal fence before anyone climbs over it.

The Same Pressure, Two Different Responses

What connects these two stories is the underlying question of who controls a musical identity once it escapes the original recordings.

For Jackson's estate, the answer has been active licensing and narrative management — the biopic is a controlled telling, not a passive one. For Richie, the answer is legal infrastructure built while he's still alive to enforce it.

Both responses are rational. The music industry has spent decades treating the song as the asset. The smarter money is now treating the artist — their voice, their image, their story — as the asset. The song is just one expression of it.

What This Means for the Business

The biopic record and the voice trademark bid aren't outliers. They're early signals of a broader shift in how music IP gets valued and defended.

Expect more estates to greenlight biopics and documentaries as catalogue activation tools. Expect more living artists to pursue voice and likeness protections before they need them. And expect the legal frameworks around both to get tested — loudly — over the next few years.

The industry has always been slow to update its IP instincts. This week is a reminder that the pace of change is not waiting for it to catch up.

Key takeaways

The Michael Jackson biopic posted a $91.1 million box-office record, underlining the sustained commercial power of legacy music catalogues when packaged for film.
Lionel Richie is attempting to trademark his voice — a legally novel move that reflects growing artist anxiety about AI-generated vocal clones and unauthorized likeness use.
Voice trademarking is distinct from copyright: it targets commercial identity rather than a specific recorded performance, and it's an area of IP law that hasn't been fully stress-tested.
The biopic boom and the voice-trademark push are two sides of the same coin — both are attempts to monetize or protect a musical identity that exists beyond any single song or album.
For the music industry, the week's headlines are a reminder that the most valuable assets are increasingly the artists themselves, not just their catalogues.

FAQ

What box-office record did the Michael Jackson biopic set?

The Michael Jackson biopic opened to $91.1 million globally, setting a record for music biopics at the box office.

What does it mean for Lionel Richie to trademark his voice?

A voice trademark is distinct from copyright. Rather than protecting a specific recording, it would protect the commercial use of something that sounds like Richie — including AI-generated vocal imitations used in advertising or other commercial contexts.

Has voice trademarking been done before?

Voice protection has been pursued through litigation — Tom Waits won a notable case in 1992 against Frito-Lay over a sound-alike ad — but proactively registering a voice as a trademark is a more aggressive and legally novel approach.

Why do music biopics matter beyond the box office?

A successful biopic typically drives streaming spikes, catalogue sales, licensing activity, and merchandise revenue that extend well beyond the theatrical window. The opening weekend is as much a marketing event as a revenue event for rights holders.

What's driving artists to pursue voice and likeness protections now?

AI tools capable of generating convincing vocal clones have made the threat concrete and immediate. Artists and their representatives are building legal infrastructure proactively rather than waiting to litigate after unauthorized use occurs.

Citations

From Lionel Richie's voice trademark bid to the Michael Jackson biopic's $91.1M box-office record… it's MBW's Weekly Round-upThe Michael Jackson biopic set a box-office record with a $91.1 million opening; Lionel Richie is pursuing a trademark on his voice.
Music Business Worldwide — FeedBureau research source aggregating music industry news including the MBW Weekly Round-up.
Waits v. Frito-Lay, Inc. — Voice Likeness and Sound-Alike AdvertisingTom Waits won a 1992 case against Frito-Lay over the use of a sound-alike voice in advertising, establishing precedent for voice likeness protection.