Universal Music Further Refutes Salt-N-Pepa’s Arguments in Appeals Court, as Group Seeks to Have Dismissal of Battle for Masters Overturned

Groundbreaking hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa’s further pursuit of the copyrights to its first four albums continues to receive vigorous pushback from Universal Music Group, with the company filing a new brief as the case winds its way through an appeals court.

Last May, Salt-N-Pepa filed suit against the dominant record company over its rejection of a 2022 copyright notice from the group, who were seeking to reclaim ownership of their enormously successful early albums – “Hot, Cool & Vicious,” “A Salt With a Deadly Pepa,” “Blacks’ Magic” and “Very Necessary.”

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Citing contracts signed in 1986, Universal argued that the albums were “works-for-hire” and thus ineligible for reclamation under the Copyright Act of 1976, which provides artists an avenue to take back ownership of their work after 35 years. UMG’s argument was successful, resulting in the case’s dismissal in January. 

Salt-N-Pepa appealed that decision, with the suit now sitting in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Salt-N-Pepa argued in an appeal brief that the 35-year period begins once a work is essentially complete and that artists do not need to “assert their ownership.”

Now, in UMG’s own new brief, filed Tuesday by UMG to the Court of Appeals and reviewed by Variety, the company reiterated its argument that Salt-N-Pepa’s music cannot be reclaimed because it was never truly owned by the Grammy-winning group.

“[Second Circuit] Judge Cote correctly dismissed Plaintiffs’ claim,” UMG’s lawyers write, quoting the January dismissal of the case, “as to the validity of the [copyright reclamation] Notice … because ‘even viewed in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, the 1986 agreements do not indicate that Plaintiffs ever owned the copyrights to the sound recordings or that they granted a transfer of those rights to anyone else.’“

Those agreements were the contracts signed in May 1986 that, UMG argues, resulted in Salt-N-Pepa’s masters being controlled by the label Next Plateau, which eventually ended up under the corporate umbrella of UMG.

UMG’s lawyers wrote in Tuesday’s filing that Salt-N-Pepa’s case ignores “the extent to which the entire termination provision [of the Copyright Act] is itself a carefully balanced scheme that also places important limitations on when and how the right may be exercised.”

During their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last November, Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Deidra Roper (aka DJ Spinderella, who joined the group after its founding) told the audience: “As we celebrate this moment, fans can’t even stream our music. It’s been taken down from all streaming platforms because the industry still doesn’t want to play fair.” 

As of now, the four albums Salt-N-Pepa hope to own remain unavailable on streaming platforms. A request for comment to the group’s representative was not immediately returned.