August 10, 2000 – Experience Hendrix, the family-owned and operated company devoted to preserving the legacy of the late guitar great Jimi Hendrix, has prevailed in U.N. arbitration concerning the rightful ownership of the Internet domain name www.jimihendrix.com. Experience Hendrix took its case to the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization, which ruled on Monday, August 7 on this and several other cases involving cybersquatters: those who register a web address using famous trademarks with intent to resell the domain name for profit to the company or individual with rights to it.

Cybersquatter Denny Hammerton of Minneola, Florida was ordered to return www.jimihendrix.com to Experience Hendrix after it was revealed that the web address, while registered by Hammerton as the Jimi Hendrix Fan Club, was never operational. Evidence presented by the Hendrix family's legal representation included copies of online resale web site pages offering the never-used www.jimihendrix.com address for the sum of $1 million. Because Hammerton held hostage the coveted www.jimihendrix.com domain name, Experience Hendrix has been forced to use www.jimi-hendrix.com as its online hub since the company's inception in 1995.

Said Janie Hendrix, president of Experience Hendrix, of the U.N. ruling, "We are grateful that the U.N. World Intellectual Property Organization has protected our family's trademark rights against this self-proclaimed domain speculator.

We plan to use the domain name for our interactive website about Jimi's life and music."

In 1995, after waging a three-year legal battle against various corporate interests, the Hendrix family was awarded all rights related to Jimi Hendrix, including music, name, image and recordings. Experience Hendrix, the family owned and operated company devoted to the preservation of the legacy of Jimi Hendrix, was established in 1995. The Seattle-based company is helmed by Jimi Hendrix's father, James "Al" Hendrix and Jimi Hendrix's sister, Janie Hendrix.

Current Experience Hendrix projects include the September 12 release of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, a new 4-CD box set to be issued around the world through Experience Hendrix's exclusive, long-term, global licensing agreement with MCA Records, as well as a new CD collection of home recordings by Jimi Hendrix, Morning Symphony Ideas, released last month via the family's own Dagger Records mail and internet-order imprint. Dagger Records, which has released two previous titles, is designed to provide affordable and compelling releases to Hendrix's most dedicated fans. In addition, an interactive Jimi Hendrix exhibit, featuring original clothing and other memorabilia, rare photos and film footage, is set to open at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland in early September.