The iconic hip hop duo’s attempt to use U.S. copyright law to reclaim their music failed in court, illustrating how old label contracts can keep artists from their work.
The Legendary hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa (Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton) lost their legal battle to reclaim their master recordings from Universal Music Group. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote granted UMG’s motion to dismiss the case. Deidra “DJ Spinderella” Roper, who parted ways with the group in 2019, is not a part of the lawsuit.
According to Reuters, Salt-N-Pepa asked the court to recognize termination notices they served in 2022, aiming to take back the rights to recordings released between 1986 and 1990. The judge found they “did not show that they ever owned the copyrights at issue.” In plain terms, Salt-N-Pepa’s contract work was originally owned by their first label (Noise In The Attic/Next Plateau), which meant the women never held those master copyrights themselves. Without ownership to terminate, their bid to force UMG to relinquish the masters collapsed.
Salt-N-Pepa, however, plan to appeal. They issued a statement to Pitchfork saying they “respectfully disagree with the Court’s decision and fully intend to pursue our rights on appeal” under U.S. copyright law. They invoked Section 203 of the Copyright Act (the termination provision), arguing the recordings should be theirs by now.
