{"id":224232,"date":"2025-12-09T19:42:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/224232\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T19:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T19:42:06","slug":"hendrix-classic-albums-under-spotlight-in-uk-rights-battle-with-sony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/224232\/","title":{"rendered":"Hendrix classic albums under spotlight in UK rights battle with Sony"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Lawsuit claims streaming rights for classic tracks<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Sony warns ruling could disrupt music industry<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Claimants cite &#8216;radically different&#8217; digital era<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) &#8211; Jimi Hendrix&#8217;s classic 1960s albums are the focus of a London lawsuit over performers&#8217; rights asserted on behalf of his British bassist and drummer against Sony Music Entertainment <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/markets\/companies\/6758.T\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">(6758.T), opens new tab<\/a>, which warns that a win for the claimants could &#8220;throw the music industry into chaos&#8221;.Guitarist Noel Redding, who had recently auditioned for the 1960s blues-rock band The Animals, and pioneering drummer <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/lifestyle\/jimi-hendrix-drummer-mitch-mitchell-dies-at-62-idUSTRE4AC053\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mitch Mitchell<\/a> joined The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966 and created some of the most renowned music of the decade.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/media-telecom\/hendrix-classic-albums-under-spotlight-uk-rights-battle-with-sony-2025-12-09\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia-telecom%2Fhendrix-classic-albums-under-spotlight-uk-rights-battle-with-sony-2025-12-09%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Redding and Mitchell played on the group&#8217;s three studio albums &#8220;Are You Experienced&#8221;, &#8220;Axis: Bold As Love&#8221; and &#8220;Electric Ladyland&#8221;, released in 1967 and 1968 and featuring &#8220;Hey Joe&#8221;, &#8220;Purple Haze&#8221;, &#8220;Foxy Lady&#8221; and other hits.<\/p>\n<p>The recordings helped usher in the psychedelic music age and made Hendrix a rock superstar before his untimely death in London in September 1970, aged 27. Five decades on, The Jimi Hendrix Experience&#8217;s music remains both popular and profitable.<\/p>\n<p>Their albums are at the centre of a trial that began on Tuesday and seeks a share of potentially lucrative streaming royalties \u2014 a claim Sony says should be rejected.<\/p>\n<p>LAWSUIT CITES UNFORESEEN RISE OF STREAMING<\/p>\n<p>Redding and Mitchell died in 2003 and 2008 respectively and their descendants later assigned any rights they might have had to two companies, Noel Redding Estate Limited and Mitch Mitchell Estate Limited.<\/p>\n<p>The companies sued Sony at London&#8217;s High Court in 2022 and are seeking a declaration that they own a share of the sound recording copyrights of, and performers&#8217; property rights in, the three Jimi Hendrix Experience albums.<\/p>\n<p>Sony&#8217;s lawyers argue that in 1966 the band signed away the rights to exploit the recordings &#8220;by any method now known or hereafter to be known&#8221;. They also cite releases agreed by Redding and Mitchell to drop lawsuits in the early 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>But the companies&#8217; lawyer Simon Malynicz said Sony&#8217;s case relied on deals signed &#8220;long before the internet revolutionised music&#8221; and the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The agreements from the 1960s and 1970s simply do not extend to the radically different modes of digital exploitation which underpin (Sony&#8217;s) current business model,&#8221; he said in court filings.<\/p>\n<p>Sony, however, raised concerns about the wider impact of the companies&#8217; case if they succeed, which it said could prompt a slew of lawsuits from session musicians and backing vocalists.<\/p>\n<p>Sony&#8217;s lawyer Robert Howe said in court filings that &#8220;deals done with virtually every 1960s and 1970s artist, from The Beatles to the Berlin Philharmonic &#8230; would be vulnerable to retrospective attack&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Sam Tobin, Editing by William Maclean<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawsuit claims streaming rights for classic tracks Sony warns ruling could disrupt music industry Claimants cite &#8216;radically different&#8217;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[82519,2786,82703,82521,84892,120611,120612,108144,82794,84335,82500,84110,82543,82538,82545,82546,82535,82549,82541,82550,82776,82553,82536,82559,82530,88153,82528,94004,82532,82531,99595,85215,82555,82542,82777,82547,82539,82557,82537,110697,82540,110696,82554,82552,82710,82548,82551,82544,82702,18,55396,85475,117,82520,82522,32356,82516,103276,45748,19,17,11203,82798,721,117247,88835,88836,82565,337,82524,82799,93735,88151,85216,41577,17827,82510,83002,82558,12368,82801,753,82999,30150,107,82518],"class_list":{"0":"post-224232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-amers","9":"tag-asia","10":"tag-asxpac","11":"tag-blux","12":"tag-ccos","13":"tag-cele","14":"tag-cele1","15":"tag-cleb","16":"tag-clj","17":"tag-cmpelc","18":"tag-cmpny","19":"tag-cycs","20":"tag-destabn","21":"tag-destabx","22":"tag-destafa","23":"tag-destbnx","24":"tag-destcsa","25":"tag-destdnp","26":"tag-deste","27":"tag-destfun","28":"tag-destg","29":"tag-destgns","30":"tag-destlby","31":"tag-destlita","32":"tag-destocabsm","33":"tag-destoip","34":"tag-destoukbsm","35":"tag-destoukdnm","36":"tag-destouktpm","37":"tag-destousbsm","38":"tag-destousenm","39":"tag-destouspom","40":"tag-destpco","41":"tag-destpcu","42":"tag-destpge","43":"tag-destpsc","44":"tag-destrast","45":"tag-destrbn","46":"tag-destreulb","47":"tag-destreuvf","48":"tag-destrnp","49":"tag-destrves","50":"tag-destrws","51":"tag-destrwsa","52":"tag-destseabs","53":"tag-destu","54":"tag-destucdptest","55":"tag-destuki","56":"tag-easia","57":"tag-eire","58":"tag-emea","59":"tag-ent","60":"tag-entertainment","61":"tag-europ","62":"tag-ezc","63":"tag-fin","64":"tag-gb","65":"tag-gbe","66":"tag-gen","67":"tag-ie","68":"tag-ireland","69":"tag-jp","70":"tag-judic","71":"tag-legal","72":"tag-lu","73":"tag-mdia","74":"tag-msic","75":"tag-mtpix","76":"tag-music","77":"tag-namer","78":"tag-netsv","79":"tag-netsv1","80":"tag-nrlpaoip","81":"tag-packageus-politics","82":"tag-pro","83":"tag-pub","84":"tag-publ","85":"tag-pxp","86":"tag-reuters-legal","87":"tag-show","88":"tag-swit","89":"tag-tech","90":"tag-teeq","91":"tag-tmt","92":"tag-us","93":"tag-weu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation 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