Hendrix Electric Zapped by Jimi's Estate
Hendrix Vodka, ZumaPress.com
Your next purple haze will not be caused by Hendrix Electric vodka.
The proprietor of the Jimi Hendrix-inspired spirit has agreed to pay the rock icon's estate a $3.2 million judgment for peddling the product without the Hendrix family's authorization.
In a ruling issued last week, U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly also ordered defendant Craig Dieffenbach and his Electric Hendrix LLC to stop selling and marketing the vodka and any other product that utilizes Hendrix' name and likeness.
Experience Hendrix, the company that controls the late artist's trademarked image, had argued in a lawsuit filed in 2007 that Dieffenbach's product not only infringed on the estate's copyright but was an example of plain old poor taste.
The estate particularly objected to using Hendrix to sell an addictive substance, considering he died of at the ripe young age of 27 from drug-and-alcohol-related asphyxiation.
"This judgment recognizes our family's long-standing commitment to preserve the Jimi Hendrix legacy and artistic vision," Janie Hendrix, Jimi's stepsister, said in a statement.
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