Judge Dismisses Salt-N-Pepa Lawsuit Against Universal Music Group Over Master Recordings

A U.S. District Court judge dismissed Salt-N-Pepa's lawsuit against Universal Music Group on Jan. 8, ruling that the duo never owned the master recordings at issue and therefore could not reclaim them under Section 203 of the Copyright Act. The decision was issued by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York and resulted in the full dismissal of the declaratory relief claim.

“None of the contracts identified by Plaintiffs indicate that they ever owned the Master Tapes,” reads the dismissal. The judge further argued that “the statutory text in § 203 is clear: Plaintiffs can only terminate copyright transfers that they executed. They cannot terminate a copyright grant executed by NITA. As a result, Plaintiffs do not plausibly allege a claim for declaratory relief.”

Judge Cote held that termination rights can only be exercised by authors who executed the original grant. The court ruled that the contracts submitted did not demonstrate that Salt-N-Pepa possessed copyright rights or granted away those rights; therefore, no qualifying transfer was eligible for termination under Section 203. Consequently, it was determined that the complaint did not state a case of ownership, evidence of these copyrights, or of a transfer, which warranted dismissal of the complaint.

Salt-N-Pepa had argued that they could retake ownership decades after signing away their copyrights, but the court concluded that the contracts did not support that claim. The ruling leaves the duo with the option to appeal, if they choose to.

Salt-N-Pepa shared in a statement to Variety that they plan on appealing the ruling. “We respectfully disagree with the Court's decision and fully intend to pursue our rights on appeal. We, Cheryl James and Sandra Denton, also known as the Hip Hop icons Salt-N-Pepa, are the creative and driving force behind all our sound recordings and have performed these songs over the past 40 years. We remain committed to vindicating and reclaiming our rights as creators under the Copyright Act.”

“As we celebrate this moment, fans can't even stream our music. It's been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn't want to play fair,” said James.

“Salt-N-Pepa have never been afraid of a fight,” she continued. “This is the Influence Award. We have to keep using our influence until the industry honors creativity the way the audience does — with love, respect, and fairness — and that includes streaming platforms too.”