Salt-N-Pepa are currently wrapped up in a legal battle with Universal Music Group (UMG). Recently, they even hit the company with some new accusations. This May, the duo filed a lawsuit in New York federal court. In it, they alleged that UMG violated the Copyright Act. The act gives artists the right to reclaim intellectual property 35 years after its release.
"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 alleges. Salt-N-Pepa also allege that in 2022, they filed notices of termination, trying to start the process of reclaiming their masters.
Now, AllHipHop reports that they're accusing UMG of deliberately blocking access to their masters and removing their music from streaming platforms. They allege that this is an attempt to sabotage their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
Salt-N-Pepa UMG Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that UMG “halted exploitation of the relevant sound recordings in the United States, thereby effectively demonetizing Plaintiffs’ catalogue—months before Plaintiffs are set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
“UMG appears to take the position that it can unilaterally decide when and/or if a recording artist is entitled to termination. This is not the law, and UMG does not have this power,” legal counsel for Salt-N-Pepa alleges. “This is an effort by UMG to pressure Plaintiffs into giving up on their effort to recoup their rights to their sound recordings.”
News of Salt-N-Pepa's latest allegations arrives just a couple of weeks after Cheryl James shut down comparisons to Drake. The Toronto rapper is also currently suing UMG, though his complaint centers around Kendrick Lamar's diss track, "Not Like Us."
“Well, I’m old school, and hip-hop is like battling and going back and forth," she said in July. "It’s kind of like calling the police... I love Drake though, but... I can’t get with that one.”
