Redding and Mitchell, who died in the 2000s, formed the band with American rock legend Hendrix in 1966.
The group broke up shortly before Hendrix, the famed guitarist from Seattle, died after a drug overdose in September 1970.
“Both men died in relative poverty, having earned almost nothing from the recordings that defined their careers and their lives,” the claimants’ lawyers said in written submissions.
The pair was “marginalised” by producers, administrators of the Hendrix Estate and now, by a “major multinational which refuses to recognise or remunerate their copyright and performers’ rights”, the claimants’ submission added.
Sony Music UK rejects the claim.
It argues that ownership of the copyright to the sound recordings lay with producers, not musicians under a 1960s agreement, and that releases signed in the 1970s granted consent for the recordings to be exploited “by any means and method whether then or thereafter known,” effectively settling the issue decades ago.
The claimants counter that digital exploitation, including streaming, could not have been contemplated when those releases were signed.
The trial is due to conclude on December 18 with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.
-Agence France-Presse