Salt-N-Pepa are speaking out about their legal battle with Universal Music Group. In a new interview with Good Morning America, the rap duo — Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton — explained their decision to sue their record company more than 30 years after first signing their contract. Salt-N-Pepa filed a federal lawsuit against UMG in May, accusing the label of violating the Copyright Act by not allowing the musicians to reclaim control of their music’s intellectual property.
“It’s time for us to fight for our rights,” said James. “When you’re an artist, in the beginning, you sign a contract saying that the copyrights will revert back to you after 35 years. And we’ve done all the things legally to get our copyrights back. But they’re just refusing, so we had to sue them.”
“It’s the law. That’s what it really boils down to,” Denton added.
According to the lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, the pair filed notices of termination in 2022 to reclaim the master rights, which are owned by UMG’s Next Plateau Records and London Records, signed in 1986 and 1992, respectively. In response, UMG claimed in a recent filing that Salt-N-Pepa don’t have the right to exercise their “termination rights” since they didn’t sign the contract themselves.
“We didn’t have that leverage. We didn’t have that knowledge. We didn’t have that control in the Eighties. And so, to be held to a contract from 1985, and 40 years later, it’s, like, ridiculous,” said James of that response. (The pair said it was also receiving the support of former member, DJ Spinderella.)
In their lawsuit and in the GMA conversation, the pair claimed UMG has prevented them from promoting their music and has removed it from streaming services.
“Obviously, it’s something. They wanna keep it. They wanna hold onto it. And they’re tryin’ to fight us,” Denton said. “So, obviously, they understand what’s the worth of that.”
When the artists filed their lawsuit back in May, a UMG spokesperson told Rolling Stone that the filings showed their “repeated attempts” to “resolve this matter amicably.” The rep explained: “Clearly, the artists’ legal counsel thinks they can use the threat of negative media coverage from the lawsuit to achieve their unreasonable demands. Despite this, and consistent with our longstanding practice, we remain committed to working towards an amicable resolution.”
Legal reps for Salt-N-Pepa said at the time that the removal of the pair’s music from major platforms was a “stunning act of retaliation.” Along with the rights to the masters, the duo is also requesting actual damages that could “exceed $1 million.” They are also asking for a permanent injunction to confirm their rights to the songs recorded and claim they want to reach a “mutually acceptable resolution.”
