20-05-2025
Salt-N-Pepa suing record label over rights to catalogue
Salt-N-Pepa are suing Universal Music Group (UMG) over rights to their master recordings.
On Monday, lawyers acting for the hip-hop group, comprised of Cheryl 'Salt' James and Sandra 'Pepa' Denton, filed a lawsuit in a court in New York.
According to the complaint, obtained by The Associated Press, Salt-N-Pepa allege executives at UMG have violated copyright law by refusing to give them back the rights to their master recordings, citing a law in which artists can seek to terminate decades-old agreements.
James and Denton claim they filed to end a contract under the Copyright Act of 1976 back in 2022 but "UMG has refused to honour" their request.
"UMG has indicated that it will hold Plaintiffs' rights hostage even if it means tanking the value of Plaintiffs' music catalogue and depriving their fans of access to their work," the lawsuit reads.
Salt-N-Pepa allege they should now own the rights to recordings on their 1986 debut album Hot, Cool & Vicious as well as to the 1987 hit Push It.
In addition, they believe the rights to the 1993 album Very Necessary, which includes the singles Shoop and Whatta Man, should be returned to them this year or in 2026.
They are seeking damages from UMG that could "well exceed $1 million (£750,000)".
Elsewhere, reps for Salt-N-Pepa alleged the removal of the group's music from streaming platforms was a "stunning act of retaliation".
"(They're) punishing them for asserting those rights and silencing decades of culture-shifting work," a spokesperson told Rolling Stone. "Like many artists, they're challenging a system that profits from their work while denying them control. This fight is about more than contracts - it's about legacy, justice, and the future of artist ownership."
Representatives for UMG have not yet commented on the lawsuit.
Later this year, Salt-N-Pepa will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the musical influence category.
