Lydon loses High Court battle to prevent music appearing on Danny Boyle series ‘Pistol’

Never mind the bollocks – here’s the legal ruling

John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten has lost his legal fight against the remaining members of the Sex Pistols over the use of tracks in a forthcoming Danny Boyle TV series about the band.

Boyle’s six part series ‘Pistol’, based on the memoir ‘Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol’ by Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, is due to air next year.  Lydon was attempting to block the use of the band’s music, but Jones and drummer Paul Cook launched legal action to overrule his objection.

They cited a previous agreement signed by band members which agreed permission would be granted in any case where the majority of band members were in approval.  Although the former lead singer’s lawyers had argued no permission could be granted without his say so, a ruling from  high court judge Sir Anthony Mann this morning backed Jones and Cook’s claim that the 1998 agreement meant they were able to allow the use of the tracks.

A statement from the pair, who said that their position was also backed by original bassist Glen Matlock and the estate of his successor, the late Sid Vicious, added: “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.”