The estates of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, the bassist and drummer in the Jimi Hendrix Experience, have filed a lawsuit against Sony Music in the U.K., alleging copyright infringement and seeking royalties.
Last month, the Hendrix estate sued the Redding and Mitchell estates, claiming those two estates couldn’t sue them.
The Hendrix estate and Sony claim that Redding and Mitchell signed away any rights to the music in the early ’70s following Hendrix’s death in 1970. But in their latest legal filing, the Redding and Mitchel estates claim the contracts do not “operate as a bar to our clients’ claims” because Sony was not a party to the contract and Redding’s contract doesn’t extend to Hendrix’s heirs while Mitchell’s does but is subject to restrictions.
Lastly, the Redding and Mitchel estates say the contracts they signed only apply to North America and not the U.K. and that none of them extend to streaming rights or digital media revenue.
Redding and Mitchell’s lawyer says that the terms of the original contracts divided up the profits three ways, with Hendrix entitled to 50% and Redding and Mitchell each getting 25%.
REUTERS PHOTO
