LONDON, UK (Jimmy Hendrix Fans Website) - The family of the late rock star
Jimi Hendrix won a High Court battle in Britain Friday to regain control over some of his earliest work.
Under the ruling, the family is entitled to a say in any future releases of the legendary guitarist's work with a band called Curtis Knight and the Squires in the mid-1960s.
The legal battle dates back to a claim by the family that PPX Enterprises had breached a deal made in 1973.
Friday's decision said the family is entitled to future royalties from the music, but that it had no claim on past payments.
Hendrix, one of rock's most influential figures, suffocated on his vomit in London in 1970 at age 27.
He gained his place in musical annals with his virtuoso performances of songs like "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze" on his trademark Fender Stratocaster electric guitar.
Experience Hendrix, the family firm that controls the rights to all Hendrix's work except some early recordings, sued PPX Enterprises over recordings the then little-known guitar virtuoso made with the group Curtis Knight and The Squires in PPX's New York studios.
Experience Hendrix said PPX failed to pay royalties on the works and had authorized the release of records without licenses, in contravention of a 1973 agreement with the English administrator of Hendrix's estate.
Judge Justice Roger Buckley granted an injunction restraining the future release or licensing of recordings on which Hendrix performed, apart from 33 master tapes to which Experience Hendrix agreed PPX was entitled.
Buckley ruled that PPX must account for royalties due on those 33 tapes in the future, but not in the past. He rejected demands that PPX hand over the master tapes and pay an unspecified amount in damages.
He said PPX must pay 70 percent of Experience Hendrix's legal bill, starting with an interim payment of $112,500.
PPX argued it had an oral agreement with Experience Hendrix entitling it to every master tape it had previously released or licensed. It was granted permission to appeal.
Hendrix rose to prominence in the late 1960s with hits including "Purple Haze," "Hey Joe" and "Voodoo Chile ." In 1970, he died of a drug overdose in London at 27.
Lawyer Nick Valner, who represented Experience Hendrix, said of the ruling: "This is a great day for the Hendrix family and represents the culmination of years of heavily fought litigation."
No one was immediately available for comment at PPX.
