Final yr, Salt-N-Pepa’s Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton filed go well with towards Common Music Group (UMG) over the rights to their catalog, claiming that the label had pulled the duo’s songs from streaming platforms after they tried to regain management of their masters. Legal professionals for UMG subsequently filed a movement to dismiss the lawsuit, and at present (Thursday, January 8), a decide in New York’s Southern District Courtroom dominated of their favor.
James and Denton—Salt-N-Pepa’s former DJ, Spinderella, was not occasion to the grievance—based mostly their declare on the “termination rights” outlined in Part 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976, which permit artists to reclaim the copyrights on their grasp recordings after a number of a long time. Nonetheless, in a duplicate of her determination obtained by Pitchfork, U.S. District Decide Denise Cote finds that Salt-N-Pepa by no means owned their masters to start with; the group had initially granted possession to their first label, Noise within the Attic (NITA) Productions, and weren’t included within the contract that transferred these rights to UMG predecessor Subsequent Plateau Data in 1986. Pitchfork has reached out to Salt-N-Pepa’s representatives for remark.
In a press release to Pitchfork, a UMG spokesperson wrote, “Whereas we’re gratified that the court docket dismissed this baseless lawsuit, it ought to by no means have been introduced within the first place. Previous to this go well with—and with none authorized obligation to take action—we made a number of makes an attempt to resolve the matter amicably, enhance the artists’ compensation, and make sure that Salt-N-Pepa’s followers had entry to their music. Even with the court docket’s full rejection of their claims, we stay open and prepared to discover a decision to the matter and switch the web page so we will focus our efforts on working collectively to amplify Salt-N-Pepa’s legacy for generations to come back.”
