Noel Redding & Mitch Mitchell Estates v. Sony Music — UK High Court Rules Jimi Hendrix Bandmates Have No Copyright or Performers’ Rights in Classic Recordings

Background

The Jimi Hendrix Experience — Jimi Hendrix on guitar, Noel Redding on bass, and Mitch Mitchell on drums — recorded approximately 40 studio tracks between 1966 and 1968 that became some of the most iconic recordings in rock history, including tracks from Are You Experienced (1967), Axis: Bold as Love (1967), and Electric Ladyland (1968).

The estates of Redding and Mitchell brought two claims against Sony Music Entertainment UK. First, they asserted co-ownership of the sound recording copyrights in those 40 tracks, arguing that Sony needed licenses from them — not just from Experience Hendrix LLC (the entity that controls Hendrix’s estate) — to distribute the music. Second, they claimed that the ongoing distribution of the recordings, particularly via streaming platforms, infringed Redding’s and Mitchell’s performers’ property rights under UK law.

After a seven-day trial in December 2025, Mr Justice Edwin Johnson delivered a comprehensive 140-page judgment dismissing all claims.

The Court’s Holding

The court found the claims failed on three independent grounds, any one of which would have been sufficient to dismiss the case:

The 1966 Recording Agreement. On October 11, 1966, the band members signed a Recording Agreement with producers Michael Jeffery and Chas Chandler. The judge held that the relevant clause was “clear and unequivocal” — the producers and band members agreed that the producers would own the copyright in the recordings “throughout the world.” The claimants argued that this agreement should not extend to streaming, a distribution method that did not exist in 1966. The court rejected this, holding that the agreement “was not limited to any particular methods for the delivery of music” and covered all methods of exploitation without temporal or territorial restriction.

Releases under New York law. Both Redding (in April 1973) and Mitchell (in September 1974) signed settlement releases in connection with earlier lawsuits in New York. Construing these releases under New York law, the court found they barred the present claims.

Discontinuance of earlier proceedings. The discontinuances of those earlier US proceedings involving the same subject matter further precluded the current claims.

Key Takeaways

• Recording agreements from the 1960s that assign copyright without limiting the methods of exploitation will cover modern distribution methods including streaming — there is no implied limitation to technologies that existed at the time of signing.
• Performers who signed releases during their lifetimes cannot have their estates relitigate the same issues decades later, even as new revenue streams like streaming emerge.
• Sony had warned at trial that a ruling for the claimants could “throw the music industry into chaos” by enabling session musicians and backing artists across catalogues to retroactively claim streaming royalties. The ruling forecloses that possibility for agreements of this type.

Why It Matters

This case has broad implications for the music industry. As streaming has become the dominant revenue source for recorded music, questions about who owns legacy recordings — and whether pre-digital agreements cover digital distribution — have become increasingly valuable. The court’s clear ruling that a 1966 agreement covers streaming without limitation provides important certainty for labels and rights holders managing classic catalogues.

The decision also signals that UK courts will not allow performers’ estates to reopen settled disputes simply because new technologies have created new revenue streams. For the estates of Redding and Mitchell, the ruling ends a four-year legal battle. For the wider industry, it reinforces that comprehensive assignment clauses in vintage recording agreements remain effective in the digital age.