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Jimi Hendrix Lawsuit Headed To Trial After UK Court Says Bandmates Can Sue Sony Over Royalties

A judge says the case, pitting two former bandmates against Sony Music over the rights to his music, must be decided in a courtroom showdown.

The estates of bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell say they own a share of the rights to three albums created by the trio’s Jimi Hendrix Experience, and they’ve been battling in court for more than two years to prove it. Sony had argued that the case should be dismissed because Redding and Mitchell both signed away their rights in the early 1970s shortly after Hendrix died, but a judge on London’s High Court ruled Monday that the dispute – over “arguably the greatest rock guitarist ever” — must be decided at trial. Sony and the Hendrix estate have argued in court filings that those “broad releases” prohibit Redding and Mitchell’s heirs from making any legal claim to the band’s music.

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