The estates of Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding can go forward suing Sony over Jimi Hendrix royalties they hope to claim, despite signing off on those in the Seventies. London's High Court has ruled that the case can go forward. From the Guardian:
Aside from a tiny handful of Redding-penned songs, Hendrix wrote the group’s repertoire and earned the songwriting royalties alone, but the trio shared in royalties for the sound recordings they created together prior to Hendrix’s death aged 27 in 1970.
Believing there would not be any more Jimi Hendrix Experience music released – and with the lucrative CD-reissue and streaming eras still years in the future – the pair signed away their rights in the early 1970s. Redding received $100,000 while Mitchell received $240,000, with both signing documents that stated they would not be able to make future lawsuits over the earnings.
Redding and Mitchell died in 2003 and 2008 respectively, but the companies controlling their estates filed a lawsuit, initially in February 2022, claiming they are owed a share of the royalties from the song catalogue they performed on, arguing that the pair “have not been compensated for their work and both died in relative poverty”.
Sony attempted to have the lawsuit thrown out, arguing that the statements the pair signed should prevent it coming to court. But on Monday judge Michael Green in London’s high court ruled that the case could move to trial, most likely in 2025.
After the ruling, Lawrence Abramson, a lawyer for the two estates, said: “No one is denying that Jimi Hendrix was one of, if not the, greatest guitarist of all time. But he didn’t make his recordings alone and they could not have achieved any success without the contributions of Noel and Mitch.” Sony has not commented on the ruling.
The case might explain that the announced Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision box set has been in limbo for two years now, although two live releases, Live at the Forum and Hollywood Bowl August 18, 1967 featuring the classic line-up have been released in the meantime.
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