UK trial opens in dispute over Jimi Hendrix recordings

London: A legal dispute over the rights to recordings made by the 1960s British American rock band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, went to trial on Tues...

London: A legal dispute over the rights to recordings made by the 1960s British-American rock band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, went to trial on Tuesday at the High Court in London.

Owners of the estates of Hendrix's British bandmates, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, are suing Sony Music Entertainment UK arguing they were shut out of royalties for decades despite the continued commercial use of the band's recordings.

They say they are entitled to copyright and performers' rights on three albums recorded in the 1960s by the Jimi Hendrix Experience -- "Are You Experienced", "Axis: Bold As Love" and "Electric Ladyland".

At issue in the liability-only trial is whether contracts written for the era of vinyl records also apply to digital uses, such as streaming, and whether new performers' rights, created in UK law decades after the band split, mean the Redding and Mitchell estates merit a payment they say never arrived.

If the claimants succeed, a separate trial will later determine damages.