Jimi Hendrix’s late bandmates get green light to sue over album royalties

Case says that dead bandmates of legendary guitarist are owed royalties over ‘ongoing exploitation’ | Judge views that claimants have a ‘more than arguable’ chance of success in case against record company | Digital streaming not contemplated when deals were signed.

The estates of two deceased musicians in Jimi Hendrix's band can proceed with their lawsuits against Sony Music Entertainment, according to the High Court of England and Wales.

On Monday, January 29, Judge Michael Green ruled that the beneficiaries of bass guitarist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell had a “more than arguable” chance of succeeding in securing music royalties to a trio of albums recorded more than half a century ago.

Widely deemed to be the greatest rock guitarist ever, James Marshall ‘Jimi’ Hendrix died in September 1970, aged just 27.

He formed his band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, four years earlier with Redding and Mitchell and they went on to record the band’s best-selling albums: Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love and Electric Ladyland.

Featuring hit tracks such as Hey Joe, Purple Haze, Foxy Lady, The Wind Cries Mary, the albums became inextricably linked with the psychedelic musical movement of that era.

While Redding and Mitchell died in 2003 and 2008 respectively, their estates sued Sony in 2022 in bids to claim ownership of a share of the sound recording copyrights in the album recordings and also to certain performers' property rights.

Musical evolution

The estates insisted that the evolution of new technologies for listening to sound recordings—in particular the advent of digital media and streaming—could not have been contemplated at the time that consent was given to make the recordings.

Sony countered that the pair both signed deals in the early 1970s, where they eschewed any rights to sue Hendrix’s estate or record companies that distribute the three albums.

But Green ruled on Monday that the lawsuit should be heard at a full trial, likely in 2025.

In his summary, he noted that plaintiffs are asserting that they owned a share of the copyright in the recordings, and are not seeking historical royalties dating back to the 1970s.

“Rather they want to establish their ownership of the copyright to seek redress from Sony for its ongoing exploitation, and they would say infringement of those rights,” he wrote.

A ‘real prospect of success’

Adding that the claimants have “a more than arguable case” that their original consent does not include consent to the present exploitation of their performers' property rights, Green determined that claims should be allowed to go to trial.

“The claimants have a real prospect of succeeding on their case in relation to the releases and discontinuances, namely that those documents do not provide a complete defence to the claims, both in copyright and based on performers' property rights.”

In a statement released to the media, Lawrence Abramson, a lawyer at Keystone Law who represented 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.”

Commenting in general on musicians who have entered into legal disputes over royalties, Jowanna Conboye, IP  and technology partner at Spencer West, told WIPR that such cases had become more commonplace following the digitalisation of music.

“Early on in an artist’s career, it was common for artists to have agreed to transfer the ownership of the copyright in the ‘master recordings’, ie, the original recordings of songs to the record company and sometimes even the copyright in the musical arrangement and lyrics of the song itself.”

Such contracts often formed part of a multiple album deal, she added, which transferred the ownership to the recording company or music label.

“Recording contracts can have quite different IP terms depending on the negotiating power of the artist,” she explained.

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