Judgment Paid in Hendrix Litigation

Seattle, WA: Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., the Hendrix family music company which owns the Jimi Hendrix music rights, has obtained a stipulated court order near $900,000 against music entrepreneur Ed Chalpin.

The payment derived from a 2006 lawsuit against Mr. Chalpin and two of his companies. During the litigation, Mr. Chalpin was described as "a singularly uncredible witness" by Federal District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan and held in contempt of court.

The current judgment dates back to previous lawsuits. In 2001, Experience Hendrix filed a lawsuit in the UK High Court against Mr. Chalpin and his PPX Enterprises. The lawsuit was filed to enforce a 1973 consent decree which limited Mr. Chalpin's rights in Hendrix recordings from 1965 when Jimi Hendrix was an unknown guitarist for Curtis Knight & The Squires.

In 2003, the UK High Court ruled in favor of Experience Hendrix ordering Mr. Chalpin and PPX Enterprises to make royalty payments to Experience Hendrix. Mr. Chalpin did not honor the £304,173 payment due Experience Hendrix. A New York State Court later upheld the UK court's decision ordering Mr. Chalpin to pay Experience Hendrix $725,868 (the UK judgment in USD).

Mr. Chalpin made no payment to Experience Hendrix. Then, in 2006, Mr. Chalpin attempted to sell the 33 Hendrix masters recorded in 1965 through an auction by Ocean Tomo, another PPX company.

Experience Hendrix again sued Mr. Chaplin, this time for fraudulent conveyance. Judge Kaplan directed Mr. Chalpin not to dispose of the assets. In a Billboard press release, Judge Kaplan said, "Mr. Chalpin was engaged in a game of three card Monte with his creditors. He was moving the pea from one walnut shell to another."

Mr. Chalpin's attorney accused Experience Hendrix of devaluing the Hendrix properties through their actions and statements and scaring off prospective bidders. In response, Judge Kaplan stated in a press release, "That is like saying because you decided to hold an auction on the steps of the courthouse in which Mr. Chalpin is going to sell the George Washington Bridge, the lack of bids would mean it has no value. The lack of bids would mean that somebody understands that the Port Authority owns it."

Shortly after being held in contempt of court, Mr. Chalpin agreed to a litigation settlement and paid the full amount of the judgment debt and most of the interest accrued since 2003.

The payment is in reference to two cases between Mr. Chaplin and Experience Hendrix: Stipulated order of Settlement (3/20/2007), U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Judge Leon A. Kaplan, Case 1:06 - CV09926 LAK) and Case HQ0102014 (6/28/2001), High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, London, Experience Hendrix, L.L.C., v. PPX Enterprises Inc. and Edward Chalpin.

Source:

Hendrix Litigation Results In Contempt Order, Judgment Payment http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/4/prweb518448.htm