In the 140-page ruling, British High Court Judge Edwin Johnson found that Redding and Mitchell, who both died in the 2000s, had signed a recording agreement on October 11, 1966—shortly after Hendrix formed the Experience—in which they forfeited their rights to the band’s future royalties. Johnson determined that the agreement, made between the band and two music producers, holds up. The dispute goes back to 2021, when the bandmates’ estates first sought shares of royalty income from the three albums Hendrix recorded with the band: Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold As Love, and Electric Ladyland.
Sony warned last year that a ruling in the claimants’ favor would “throw the music industry into chaos,” allowing backup singers, session players, orchestral performers, and bandmates—or their estates—to launch retrospective claims on royalties. Sony argued in court filings that “virtually every 1960s and 1970s artist, from The Beatles to the Berlin Philharmonic,” could be reopened, upending precedents over catalog rights.
Justice Johnson ruled unequivocally in favor of the defendants. “It is difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly,” Johnson wrote. He described the agreement as “clear and unequivocal,” adding that “there was no temporal or territorial limitation” and no language qualifying the grant of ownership.
Hendrix’s sister, Janie, expressed admiration for the decision in a statement given to Rolling Stone. “Jimi’s music is more than a catalog—it’s a living piece of our family’s soul, filled with his spirit, his passion, and his truth,” she says. “This decision means we can continue protecting that legacy with the love, care, and integrity it deserves, and ensure his voice is honored for generations to come.”
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