A New York judge has dismissed Salt-N-Pepa’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group over control of their master recordings. Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton argued they could reclaim rights under the Copyright Act of 1976, but UMG said the songs were “works made for hire.”
Judge Denise Cote ruled the duo never owned the masters, noting, “None of the contracts identified by Plaintiffs indicate that they ever owned the Master Tapes,” and that they could not terminate rights granted by another party.
UMG called the suit “baseless” but said in a statement it remains open to resolving the dispute.