The hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa cannot regain the copyrights to the master recordings of its earliest music, including the 1980s hit “Push It,” because it never owned that intellectual property in the first place, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.
When Salt-N-Pepa, whose real names are Cheryl James and Sandra Denton, sued Universal Music Group in May, it cited the Copyright Act of 1976, which allows artists to terminate grants for copyright ownership 35 years after they were formed. Universal argued that the recordings in question were “works made for hire,” and not subject to the reclaiming of rights.
Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed with Universal, writing in an 18-page dismissal that “none of the contracts identified by plaintiffs indicate that they ever owned the master tapes.”
Salt-N-Pepa had signed contracts with subsidiaries of Universal in 1986 and 1992, according to the lawsuit, and served notices of termination in 2022. It says the company did not honor that request; Universal contends that it had offered to enter mediation to settle the dispute.
“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 spokesman for Universal said in statement.
Representatives for Salt-N-Pepa did not respond to a request for comment.
Salt-N-Pepa, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, won the Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for the 1993 song “None of Your Business.”
Emmanuel Morgan reports on sports, pop culture and entertainment.
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