Jimi Hendrix is a musical legend and the value of his estate, currently $80 million, is in proportion with his fame. However, management of the estate has been at contest since the death of Jimi’s father who left control of the estate in his will to Janie Hendrix, Jimi’s adopted sister. Leon Hendrix, Janie’s brother, unsuccessfully challenged the will in 2004 and then began to print unauthorized t-shirts of the deceased musician. As a result, he was sued for trademark infringement by his sister and was hit with an injunction by a federal court to stop production of the merchandise. Recently both sides reached an out of court settlement for an undisclosed amount which seemingly brings the battle between siblings to an end.
See Paul de Barros, Latest Jimi Hendrix family feud resolved in settlement, Seattle Times, August 13, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
