The UK High Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the estates of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell (the bassist and drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) against Sony Music Entertainment UK.
The claims concerned the copyright ownership of, and performers’ property rights in, around 40 studio recordings made by the band between 1966 and 1968.
The judgment, obtained by MBW, can be read in full here.
As reported by Reuters in December, Sony had warned at trial that a ruling in the claimants’ favor could “throw the music industry into chaos”.
The claimants, Noel Redding Estate Ltd and Mitch Mitchell Estate Ltd, had argued that Redding and Mitchell were co-owners of the sound recording copyrights and held performers’ property rights arising from their participation in the recordings, and that Sony’s longstanding commercial exploitation of those recordings in the UK constituted infringement.
The recordings include tracks from classic albums Are You Experienced, Axis: Bold as Love, and Electric Ladyland.
The judgment, handed down on Tuesday (April 28) by Mr Justice Edwin Johnson, found that the claims failed on three independent grounds.
Johnson concluded that the copyright was first owned by the band’s producers, Michael Jeffery and Chas Chandler, under the terms of the original 1966 Recording Agreement.
He also found the claims were barred by settlements reached by Redding and Mitchell in the 1970s, in which both musicians signed releases and dropped earlier lawsuits in the New York courts.
The judgment states: “For the reasons set out in this judgment, the Claims fail. In summary: (1) The Claims fail on the basis of my analysis of the Recording Agreement. (2) The Claims also fail on the basis that they are precluded by the Releases. (3) The Claims also fail on the basis that they are precluded by the Discontinuances.”
Central to the ruling was Clause 6(i) of the Recording Agreement, which provided that the producers “shall have” “[t]he copyright throughout the world in all sound recordings of performances of musical works by the Artistes.”
The judge found that language dispositive: “It is difficult to see how this could have been expressed more clearly.”
On the separate question of performers’ property rights, the judge found that the consent given by Redding and Mitchell in the 1966 agreement “was not limited in time, and was not limited to any particular methods for the delivery of music.”
The judgment acknowledged the claimants’ case “that both Mr Redding and Mr Mitchell died in relative poverty, having suffered the unfairness and/or injustice of never having received their proper recognition or reward for their unique contributions to JHE and the music created by JHE.”
But the judge found that questions of fairness had “only a strictly limited role to play” in construing the agreement.
The case reached trial after Mr Justice Michael Green rejected Sony’s application for summary judgment and strike out in January 2024, finding the claimants have a “real prospect of succeeding on their case”.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Sony’s appeal of that decision in February 2025, as previously reported by MBW.
The trial took place over seven days in December 2025. The claimants were represented by Simon Malynicz KC and Phillip Johnson, instructed by Keystone Law LLP. Sony was represented by Robert Howe KC and Jaani Riordan, instructed by Simkins LLP.
Sony Music Entertainment UK exploits the recordings under a sub-licence ultimately derived from Experience Hendrix LLC, a company owned by Jimi Hendrix’s heirs.
MBW has reached out to Sony Music for comment.
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