Michael Jackson tracks stolen from Sony by hackers

Unreleased Michael Jackson songs were among the data files allegedly accessed and stolen by hackers during the Sony Corp. online security breach revealed in the spring of 2011.

A number of the late King of Pop's tracks were purportedly stolen by hackers, but Sony did not disclose further details.

Sony Music Entertainment spokeswoman Liz Young said Monday the company noticed a breach of its systems in May, "and immediately took steps to secure the site and notify authorities. As a result, the two suspects were arrested."

She said no customer data were compromised in the attack on the company's internal music-sharing system.

Sony would not confirm how much music was stolen or what artists were involved. But a person familiar with the situation, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said Monday that the suspects were Jackson fans and had taken his music, including unreleased material.

In April 2011, hackers gained access to Sony's servers, forcing the company to temporarily shut down several of its online gaming and video streaming networks.

Sony eventually admitted that the personal information of millions of users was compromised in the breach, with hackers accessing more than 100 million user accounts on systems like the PlayStation Network, Qriocity entertainment network and the Sony Online Entertainment multiplayer online gaming network.

The incident concerning Jackson's music is said to have taken place soon after, but was not revealed until now.

Friday court appearance

On Friday, James Marks and James McCormick appeared in a British court and denied charges they violated the Computer Misuse Act and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. The pair were remanded on bail and are slated to stand trial in January 2013.

The U.K.'s Serious and Organized Crime Agency had arrested the two men in conjunction with the Sony security breach last May. 

Jackson died in June 2009 at the age of 50.

In 2010, Sony Music Entertainment struck a deal — worth $250 million US — with Jackson's estate to develop 10 projects related to his music, which includes never-released songs.

The contract is in effect until 2017 and includes the soundtrack accompanying the This Is It concert documentary as well as December 2010's contentious posthumous album Michael.