“This it It,” the newly-released single by the late Michael Jackson, wasn’t his song completely. Apparently, the song was recorded 18 years ago by Puerto Rican singer Paul Anka.

Paul Anka, the songwriter of “My Way,” threatened to sue Jackson’s estate for proper credit and his share of royalties. MJ’s estate administrators quickly acknowledged Anka’s claims and granted him 50% of the copyright, a huge retirement payment for the 68-year-old singer-songwriter.

Anka made a statement to TMZ, saying “They realize it’s a mistake, they realize it’s my song, they realize it’s my production of his vocal in my studio and I am getting 50 percent of the whole project, actually, which is fair.”

The song was written in 1983 by Jackson and Anka. That time, the song was titled “I Never Heard,” which was supposed to be included on an Anka album but the two singers fell out. However, Jackson took the master tapes and Anka got them back not knowing that Jackson had copied the song for himself.

Both “I Never Heard” and “This Is It” share the same vocal and piano line, although the latter track boasts new overdubs from Jackson’s brothers. Unfortunately for Jackson’s estate, the song was promoted to be one of MJ’s “unreleased recordings” that was expected to earn massive sales.

Fans will be able to buy it when a two-disc album hits the shelves in two weeks to coincide with the October 28 worldwide release of the Jackson rehearsal-footage movie “This is It.”

Sony Music said the first disc of the album will feature some of Jackson’s greatest hits plus two versions of the “new” single, while the second disc will include unreleased versions of some of the singer’s classic tracks and a spoken word poem entitled “Planet Earth” performed by Jackson and never heard before.

Images from Wenn.com