Salt-N-Pepa is suing record label Universal Music Group (UMG) to regain the rights to their original music recordings. According to Cheryl ‘Salt’ James and Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, UMG has violated copyright law.
According to the duo, UMG refuses to return the rights to their original music recordings, writes news agency AP. They are invoking a law that allows music artists to terminate old agreements years later and thus regain ownership of their recordings.
James and Denton state that they filed a request in 2022 to terminate their contract, but UMG refuses to honor it. “UMG has indicated that it will retain the rights, even if it affects the value of its music catalog and that fans are denied access to Salt-N-Pepa’s music,” the lawsuit states, which the singers’ lawyers filed with a court in New York on Monday.
It concerns recordings from their debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious from 1986 and the hit Push It from 1987. James and Denton also want the rights to the album Very Necessary from 1993, featuring the singles Shoop and Whatta man, to be returned to them.
The singers are also demanding damages from UMG, which could amount to “well over $1 million” (converted to almost 890,000 euros).
Representatives of UMG have not yet responded to the lawsuit.