LONDON, UK (Experience Hendrix, L.L.C.) -
Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. is pleased to announce a significant legal victory in the London courts.
Experience Hendrix is the Seattle based company owned by members of the family of the late
James Allen ("Al") Hendrix, the father of the international rock star Jimi Hendrix.
Experience Hendrix owns and administers the rights to
Jimi Hendrix recordings, songs and related properties.
In late 2005, Experience Hendrix took action in the High Court in London against Sonicus Limited, (trading as Radioactive Records), and its distributor Blue Orchard Records, seeking to enjoin the unauthorized release of Jimi Hendrix recordings.
Sonicus, Radioactive Records, Blue Orchard, and Radioactive's proprietor Mr. James Plummer have agreed to a consent order that settles litigation regarding their unauthorized exploitation of various Jimi Hendrix recordings. Sonicus, Radioactive Records, Blue Orchard and Mr. James Plummer personally have agreed to immediately discontinue manufacturing, reproducing, selling, or distributing all Jimi Hendrix releases. They have agreed to forfeit and deliver up all existing copies of recordings whether in compact disc, vinyl LP, or picture disc format in their control to Experience Hendrix.
Radioactive Records had previously issued fourteen unauthorized Jimi Hendrix titles, many drawn from poor quality audio sources such as amateur, monophonic audience recordings. Radioactive claimed rights to manufacture and distribute this material under a license purportedly granted by longtime Jimi Hendrix litigant Ed Chalpin, presently acting under the guise of the Michael Jeffery estate, which he arranged to revive several years ago. Jeffery, who served as Hendrix's manager, died in 1973. Jeffery has no claim to any portion of the Jimi Hendrix estate or the rights owned and exploited by Experience Hendrix.
Mr. Chalpin instigated a lawsuit in the United States in 2001 asserting the same claims (in the name of the elderly former ancillary administrator of the Michael Jeffery estate in New York, now deceased). The New York court rejected that claim as a "meritless" fabrication.
Experience Hendrix also obtained a legal injunction against Mr. Chalpin (and his company PPX Enterprises Inc.) in July 2002 that restricts Mr. Chalpin and PPX from issuing, releasing or licensing the exploitation of any Jimi Hendrix recordings, other than 33 Curtis Knight & The Squires masters largely recorded in 1965 when Hendrix was an unknown sideman before he gained international fame in 1967 fronting the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Mr. Chalpin has since defaulted on payment of a significant costs order that was awarded to Experience Hendrix in that litigation.
Experience Hendrix is pleased that this action has now concluded, and will continue its active efforts to combat piracy of its Jimi Hendrix recordings and rights. "We are pleased that we have been able to remove these inferior bootlegs from the marketplace," states Janie Hendrix, President and CEO of Experience Hendrix. "These unauthorized releases only serve to confuse and disappoint Jimi's unsuspecting fans throughout the world. We shall continue to fight piracy and the unauthorized exploitation of Jimi's great legacy." Any retailer who continues to carry Jimi Hendrix product deriving from Sonicus/Radioactive Records risks legal action.
