A controversial lawsuit over Jimi Hendrix's music is set to go to trial after a London judge ruled that the heirs of his former bandmates could continue to sue Sony Music over the rights to three classic albums.
The estates of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell say they own a share of the rights to three albums created by the trio's Jimi Hendrix Experience and have been fighting in court for more than two years to prove it.
Sony had argued that the case should be thrown out because Redding and Mitchell both signed away their rights in the early 1970s, shortly after Hendrix's death, but a judge at London's High Court ruled on Monday that the dispute – for “arguably the greatest rock guitarist of all time” – to be decided at trial.
“My overall conclusion is that the claims in respect of the artists' copyright and property rights survive and must be tried,” Judge Michael Green wrote in his decision, which was taken from Advertising sign. The judge wrote that the heirs of Redding and Mitchell had a “real prospect of success” in their argument that the decades-old publications “do not provide a complete defense” for Sony.
It is unclear when the trial will take place. A Sony spokesman did not immediately return calls for comment on the court's decision. A lawyer for the Hendrix estate, which is not officially a party to the UK case, did not immediately return a request for comment.
In a statement to Advertising sign, lawyers for Redding and Mitchell said the ruling would mean “we hope we can get some justice for the families” of the two musicians. “No one denies that Jimi Hendrix was one of, if not, the greatest guitarist of all time. But he didn't make his recordings alone, and they couldn't have achieved any success without Noel and Mitch's input.”
Hendrix teamed up with Redding and Mitchell in 1966 to form the Experience, and the trio went on to release a number of now-iconic songs before Hendrix's death, including “All Along The Watchtower”, which spent nine weeks at Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and peaked at No. 20.
The current fight began in 2021 when Redding and Mitchell's heirs sent a letter to the UK claiming they own a stake in Hendrix's music and claiming they are owed millions in royalties. Hendrix's estate and Sony responded a month later by preemptively suing in New York federal court, aiming to prove they had sole control of the music. The heirs of Redding and Mitchell then filed their own case against Sony in the UK court.
The transatlantic dispute centers on agreements Redding and Mitchell signed in New York in 1973 to settle disputes following Hendrix's sudden death at age 27. In the settlement, the two men agreed not to sue Jimi's estate and the record companies that distribute his music in return for lump sum payments — $100,000 paid to Redding and $247,500 to Mitchell.
Sony and Hendrix's estate have argued in court that these “broad releases” bar Redding's and Mitchell's heirs from making any legal claim to the band's music. The heirs, on the other hand, say the two men died in poverty and are legally entitled under UK law to a cut of the lucrative Hendrix Experience music they helped create.
On Monday, Justice Green did not rule on that key dispute, saying he “cannot decide these issues” about the validity of the release agreements signed by Redding and Mitchell. Instead, it simply ruled that there are “viable arguments on such issues that should be decided at trial.”
In a statement, a spokesman for the Redding and Mitchell estates said they look forward to the trial. “Noel and Mitch died penniless despite being two-thirds of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and jointly owning the copyright to the recordings with Jimi,” said Edward Adams. “We see our case as a torch for Noel, who has spent more than three decades seeking justice.”
The trial will take place after years of dithering over whether the dispute should be heard first in US or UK courts. In May, a US federal judge ruled that the English trial could take precedence, citing the fact that it had started almost a month earlier than the US case and that a British appeals court had already ruled that their case could go ahead. The US case, filed in Manhattan federal court, is currently on hold.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/jimi-hendrix-lawsuit-trial-bandmates-sony-royalties-1235591273/
