The year 2025 was shaping up to be a banner one for Salt-N-Pepa. The iconic hip-hop duo known for hits like “Push It,” “Shoop,” and “Let’s Talk About Sex” was set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now, it’s also the year they’re taking their record label to court.
Per The Associated Press, Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton filed a lawsuit on May 19 against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing the music label of violating the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. That law gives artists the right to terminate copyright agreements and reclaim ownership of their recordings 35 years after the original contract date, in this case, in the year 1986.
The female rap duo claim they filed termination notices in 2022, but UMG refused to return their master recordings. Instead, the label allegedly blocked some of their hit songs from streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
“UMG has indicated that it will hold Plaintiffs’ rights hostage even if it means tanking the value of Plaintiffs’ music catalogue and depriving their fans of access to their work,” the lawsuit states.
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Salt-N-Pepa was one of the first all female rap groups to break into mainstream music, and in 1995 they became the first female rap act to win a Grammy Award.
How the Copyright Act of 1976 protects artists
The lawsuit suggests that this kind of situation is why Congress updated the copyright law — to protect artists who signed contracts early in their careers, often without leverage, only to watch their work become valuable over time.
Before the 1976 revisions, artists had to wait 56 years to reclaim their rights. Congress shortened that window to 35 years, recognizing that new artists often agree to one-sided deals when they’re young and unknown.
According to the AP, UMG lawyers said that James and Denton were not even “personally parties” in the initial agreement and there is “no evidence that they granted the label copyright that they can now reclaim.”
UMG claims that Salt-N-Pepa’s songs were “works made for hire,” meaning the label — not the artists — owns them and the group can’t reclaim the rights. But Salt-N-Pepa argue their contracts show otherwise, and that their songs weren’t created by employees or under the specific conditions required to qualify as “works made for hire.”
The lawsuit notes that Salt-N-Pepa’s music still holds cultural relevance — with recordings that have earned millions over the years and continue to connect with fans — highlighted by a viral 2014 Geico commercial.
Taylor Swift paves way for a work-around
Several other popular artists have sued their labels over the years concerning ownership of master recordings, including Taylor Swift, Kesha and Prince. In Swift’s case, she sued her former label, Big Machine, after it sold the rights to her first six albums without her consent.
Some artists are reclaiming loss of their music by rerecording songs they no longer own, often with new labels. In Swift’s case, she released four albums, ironically, with Universal Music Group. Salt-N-Pepa are seeking monetary damages and a permanent injunction to keep UMG from interfering with their rights.
