Experience Hendrix Wins UK Court Appeal over Movie

Experience Hendrix scored a victory in the UK courts. The music company had been battling attorney John Hillman over some claims of ownership interest in Jimi’s music. The company, formed by Jimi’s father, says the Court of Appeal in London has now upheld a 2006 decision of the English High Court rejecting Hillman’s claims.

The dispute apparently goes back decades to late 1960s and early 1970s when Hillman represented Michael Jeffery, Jimi’s then manager. Hillman apparently helped administer “Yameta”, a company which handled funds earned by Hendrix and other artists managed by Jeffery. After Hendrix and Jeffery died, the company dissolved.

Experience Hendrix says that in the early 1990’s, Hillman began claiming that Yameta had owned the Jimi Hendrix music rights, and that these alleged rights had transferred to himself and licensed his claimed rights to a UK record company, Purple Haze Records. Purple Haze began distributing Hendrix recordings, but were stopped by the UK court judgment in 2006. Hillman appealed, and the Court sided with Experience Hendrix.

The company says the Court’s decision “also effectively puts an end to another Hillman associated project, a proposed biographical film based on Hendrix’s life and career. Dragonslayer Films, a fledgling independent company, claimed to rely on a license from Hillman for the necessary music rights for this project.” They say they have not granted any license or approval for the film.