The estates of Jimi Hendrix's bandmates, who claimed that the musicians had "died in relative poverty", have lost their copyright case against the record label, Sony Music.
The original lawsuit, had argued that the artists in question, drummer Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding, had been consistently omitted from a share of the revenue for the contributions to albums by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
It was argued in the lawsuit that two late musicians were “excluded early on in their lifetimes” and “died in relative poverty”, despite the band's success. It also claimed that their successors should be entitled to a share of the revenue made from their albums made. They also claimed that they had been excluded by the administrators of Hendrix's estate.
The band was originally formed by Redding and Mitchell alongside Jimi Hendrix in 1966, and worked with the legendary guitarist on albums, 'Are You Experience', 'Axis: Bold As Love', and 'Electric Ladyland'.
Responding to these claims, Sony Music Entertainment dismissed this suit, with lawyer Robert Howe stating that the original recording copyright had belonged to the album's producers, not the musicians'.
Now, it has been confirmed that the estates representing Mitchell and Redding have lost the case at the high court.
Yesterday (April 28), Mr Justice Johnson had dismissed the claims from the estates and state that the clause of this recording agreement was "clear and unequivocal".
He said: “The producers and the band members agreed that the producers would have the copyright throughout the world in the recordings … There was no temporal or territorial limitation to this agreement".
Following this ruling, SMEUK, who represented the libel in the case and denied any infringement, said they were "thankful" to see this case come to an end, and stated they were “pleased that the high court confirmed that there has been no infringement of any rights and that they are fully entitled to exploit their rights in the Jimi Hendrix Experience catalogue”.
Reacting to this, Jimi Hendrix's sister, Janie Hendrix, who is also the chief executive of Experience Hendrix (which manages the late musician's brand), insisted that she has “nothing but positive memories of Noel and Mitch”.
She said: “Experience Hendrix’s longstanding relationships with both reflect a consistent commitment to honouring and supporting the musicians who were part of Jimi Hendrix’s history".
Mitch Mitchell passed away aged 62 in 2008, while Noel Redding died aged 57 in 2003.
Jimi Hendrix died from a drug overdose aged 27 in 1970.
