On Monday, British justice ruled in favor of the ex-Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul Cook in their legal battle with the singer of the group, Johnny Rotten.
The guitarist and drummer had sued their former sidekick for opposing the use of tracks from
Never Mind The Bollocks
, the Sex Pistols' only studio album, in the
Pistol
series
.
The latter, directed by Danny Boyle, is inspired by the memoirs of Steve Jones published in 2016 -
Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pisto
l.
"Disrespectful shit"
Johnny Rotten believed that licenses could not be granted against his will.
He had indicated that he would yield only to a court decision, after having described in April in the columns of
Sunday Time
s the series as "the most disrespectful shit" he has ever suffered.
However, according to the lawyer for the two plaintiffs, Edmund Cullen, an agreement reached in 1998 by the members of the group provided that decisions on licenses were to be made "by majority".
The High Court ruled in his favor on Monday, after hearings held in July.
In his written submissions, the plaintiffs' lawyer had pointed out that the proceedings were aimed at Johnny Rotten alone, as Glen Matlock, the original member of the group replaced in 1977 by Sid Vicious, who died in 1979, and the beneficiaries of the latter, supported the position of its clients.
"Under a hostile light"
The lawyer for the ex-leader of the group, Mark Cunningham, had argued that his client considers that the book of which the series is an adaptation presents him "in a hostile and unflattering light".
Formed in 1975, split up in 1978, the group has since reunited on stage several times, most recently in 2008. The
Pistols
series
is due out next year.
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