A London judge has ruled against the estates of Jimi Hendrix’s bandmates in their long-running legal battle with Sony Music in pursuit of royalties from the rock legend’s catalog.
Following a seven-day trial this past December, U.K. High Court Justice Edwin Johnson released a lengthy decision on Tuesday (April 28) dismissing the claims brought against Sony by the families of The Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.
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Redding and Mitchell’s estates have been alleging since 2021 that they’re being unfairly deprived of royalties from three classic Hendrix Experience albums, including the 1968 chart-topper Electric Ladyland. Sony, which has distributed Hendrix’s music since 2009 under an exclusive license with the rocker’s heirs, maintains that it owes nothing to the two families.
In Tuesday’s ruling, obtained by Billboard, Justice Johnson ultimately sided with Sony after determining that Redding and Mitchell signed away future royalties as part of the band’s 1966 recording agreement. According to the judge, this contract gave full copyright ownership to producers Michael Jeffrey and Chas Chandler in “clear and unequivocal” language.
“The rights referred to in [this contract] comprised ‘the copyright throughout the world in all sound recordings of performances of musical works by the artists,’” wrote Justice Johnson. “It is difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly. The producers were to have the copyright in sound recordings made pursuant to the terms of the recording agreement.”
The judge determined that Jeffrey and Chandler were the proper owners of both the master recording copyrights and public performance royalties from the Hendrix Experience catalog — and that the producers later assigned those rights to the Hendrix estate in a series of transactions following the rocker’s 1970 death. Thus, Justice Johnson said, Sony has no further royalty obligations beyond its license with the Hendrix heirs.
Moreover, the judge said that even without these copyright ownership issues, all claims would be barred by settlements signed by both Redding and Mitchell with the Hendrix estate during probate proceedings in the early 1970s.
A spokesperson for both Sony Music and the Hendrix estate, which is run through the business entity Hendrix Experience, said in a statement Tuesday that they are “thankful that this litigation, which has lasted over four years, has come to an end.”
“They are also 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,” continued the statement. “Experience Hendrix, in particular, is pleased to have had its chain of title to the rights in The Jimi Hendrix Experience catalogue confirmed by the High Court and looks forward to continuing to work closely with Sony Music to bring this exceptional music to the world.”
Janie Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix’s sister and the CEO of his estate, also said in her own statement, “I have nothing but positive memories of Noel and Mitch. 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.”
Reps for the Redding and Mitchell estates did not immediately return a request for comment.
