“It’s difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly”: Estates of Jimi Hendrix bandmates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell lose court case over royalties
Back in 2024, London’s High Court ruled that the estates of former Jimi Hendrix bandmates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell could sue Sony to pursue royalties they believe they were owed from three classic Hendrix albums.
The Noel Redding Estate Ltd and Mitch Mitchell Estate Ltd first sued Sony Music Entertainment in 2022. Sony believed at the time that the case was open and shut, because Redding and Mitchell had signed away their rights to the albums in the ‘70s.
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But despite being granted permission to sue, Redding and Mitchell’s lawsuit has now been dismissed.
Though it claimed that both musicians died – in 2003 and 2008, respectively – in “relative poverty”, at that both were owed royalties from Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland, British High Court Judge Edwin Johnson ruled that both signed away their rights – forgoing future royalties – decades ago.
In a lengthy 140-page ruling, Judge Johnson wrote [obtained by Rolling Stone, via Guitar World]: “I conclude that the first owners of the copyrights… were the producers.”
The judge noted that a clause in the agreement signed by Redding and Mitchell meant the band’s producers, and not Jimi Hendrix’s bandmates, owned the rights to “any sound recordings made hereunder”.
“It’s difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly,” Johnson wrote. “The producers were to have the copyright in sound recordings made pursuant to the terms of the recording agreement. This clearly included the recordings, which were all made pursuant to the terms of the recording agreement.”
He added that the agreement was “clear and unequivocal”.
“Jimi’s music is more than a catalogue – it’s a living piece of our family’s soul, filled with his spirit, his passion and his truth,” Jimi’s sister Janie Hendrix says.
“This decision means we can continue protecting that legacy with the love, care, and integrity it deserves, and ensure his voice is honoured for generations to come.”
At the time of writing Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell’s estates have not commented on the ruling.
The post “It’s difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly”: Estates of Jimi Hendrix bandmates Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell lose court case over royalties appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
