Sex Pistols's Johnny Rotten loses High Court battle with Paul Cook and Steve Jones over use of songs in new Disney TV show Pistol, which was filmed in Dover and Folkestone

swilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 15:01, 23 August 2021 | Updated: 15:57, 23 August 2021

Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten has lost a High Court battle with former band mates over use of their songs in a new TV show filmed in Kent.

Drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones sued Rotten, real name John Lydon, to allow their songs to be used in the upcoming drama Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle.

John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, outside the Rolls Building in London (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

The six-part series, which is being made by Disney and is due to air next year, is based on a 2016 memoir by Mr Jones called Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.

Many scenes from the series were shot in Folkestone and Dover earlier this year, with The Grand and Grand Burstin hotels both used as back drops.

And in a ruling today, Sir Anthony Mann found Mr Cook and Mr Jones were entitled to invoke “majority voting rules” against the ex-singer in relation to the use of Sex Pistols material in the series, under the terms of a Band Member Agreement (BMA).

During a week-long hearing at the London court, Mr Jones and Mr Cook argued that, under the terms of the BMA, made in 1998, decisions regarding licensing requests can be determined on a “majority rules basis”.

But Mr Lydon, who has previously told The Sunday Times he thinks the series is the “most disrespectful **** I’ve ever had to endure”, argued that licences cannot be granted without his consent.

Paul Cook arrives at the Rolls Building at the High Court in London with his wife Jeni (Yui Mok/PA)

His lawyers told the court that the agreement had never been used and that he considers it a “nuclear button” for the claimants and their manager, Anita Camerata, to “impose their wishes” on him.

They said he had a “deep-felt and passionate aversion to becoming a "prisoner of a hostile majority” and in his evidence to the court, Mr Lydon said the agreement “smacks of some kind of slave labour”.

Lawyers for Mr Cook and Mr Jones argued there should not be any dispute about whether the agreement allows licensing decisions to be made “by a majority” and said Mr Lydon is in breach of the BMA by refusing to provide his consent.

They also said the court could not accept his evidence as true because it was a “straightforward lie” and he could not “genuinely have believed the agreement was never effective”.

They told the court Mr Cook and Mr Jones’ claim is against Mr Lydon alone, and that original band member Glen Matlock, who was replaced by Sid Vicious, and representatives of the estate of Vicious, who died in February 1979, supported their position.

Filming took place in Dover this year for the series

Crowds gathered to watch the filming of Pistol in Deal

In a joint statement, Mr Cook and Mr Jones said: “We welcome the court’s ruling in this case.

“It brings clarity to our decision-making and upholds the band members’ agreement on collective decision-making.

“It has not been a pleasant experience, but we believe it was necessary to allow us to move forward and hopefully work together in the future with better relations.”

The Sex Pistols were formed in 1975 and disbanded in 1978, but have performed live shows together a number of times since then, most recently in 2008.

Filming for Pistol took place in Dover, Deal and Folkestone in April this year.