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Legal
Hendrix estate sued by former Jimi collaborator
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 14 July 2010
The Jimi Hendrix estate has been sued by a former collaborator of the guitarist, who claims one of his collaborations was licensed by the estate to a TV series soundtrack without his permission.
Lonnie Youngblood became friends with Hendrix in the late sixties, and recorded several songs with the star before his death in 1970. One of those tracks, ‘Georgia Blues’, appeared on a Hendrix-themed album that was released alongside ‘Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues’, a Scorsese-produced American TV series documenting the history of the blues genre.
Youngblood says his permission was not sought by the Hendrix estate when they licensed ‘Georgia Blues’ to the Scorsese project, and that the album failed to credit him as a co-creator of the song. He also claims to own the copyright in the recording, which he says he registered and released, albeit online only, in 2002, a year before the Scorsese produced compilation was released.
According to the Associated Press, Youngblood is suing the Hendrix Estate as well as MCA Records, who released the offending album, and Scorsese himself. Apparently a lawyer for the estate has previously offered Youngblood a three grand out of court settlement, but the musician declined, probably rightly assuming he could get considerably more if he wins his case in court.
