Salt-N-Pepa loses bid to reclaim recordings from UMG

By Blake Brittain

Jan 8 (Reuters) - A Manhattan federal court on Thursday rejected pioneering hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa's bid to reclaim copyrights from Universal Music Group UMG.AS for their hit song "Push It" and other recordings.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said that Salt-N-Pepa did not show that they ever owned the copyrights at issue and were not entitled to terminate UMG's rights to them.

Attorneys for Salt-N-Pepa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

"Even with the court's complete rejection of their claims, we remain open and willing to find a resolution to the matter and turn the page so we can focus our efforts on working together to amplify Salt-N-Pepa's legacy for generations to come," a UMG spokesperson said.

Salt-N-Pepa, featuring rappers Cheryl James and Sandra Denton and DJ Deidra Roper, had a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s including "Shoop" and "Whatta Man." The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

Roper, better known as DJ Spinderella, left the group in 2019 and is not involved in the lawsuit.

The group signed their first contract with Noise In The Attic Productions, owned by their producer Herb Azor, in 1986. UMG eventually acquired the rights to their albums.

A provision of U.S. law allows artists to terminate copyright transfer agreements and reclaim their rights after decades in some circumstances. Salt-N-Pepa told UMG in 2022 that they were reclaiming their copyrights in albums released between 1986 and 1990 and sued the label last May for refusing to recognize their termination.

Cote dismissed the case on Thursday after agreeing with UMG that their contract and related agreements did not "establish that they ever owned the copyrights to their sound recordings, let alone transferred them to anyone else."

The case is James v. UMG Recordings Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:25-cv-04182.

For Salt-N-Pepa: Heidi Crikelair, Roy Arnold and David Perry of Blank Rome

For UMG: Richard Mandel and Thomas Kjellberg of Cowan Liebowitz & Latman