Legendary rap duo Salt-N-Pepa have lost their copyright lawsuit against Universal Music Group over the ownership of their master recordings, after a federal judge in the Southern District of New York dismissed the case on January 8, 2026, in New York City, ruling that the group never owned the copyrights they sought to reclaim under U.S. termination law, according to Music Business Worldwide and court coverage from legal outlets.[2][1]
Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton filed the suit in 2025, arguing that UMG unlawfully blocked their efforts to exercise termination rights under Section 203 of the Copyright Act to regain control of sound recordings from their classic late-1980s catalog, including works tied to their original 1986 recording agreements.[2][1] According to Music Business Worldwide, Judge Denise Cote held that the contracts showed their producer Hurby Azor’s company, Noise In The Attic Productions (NITA), was the “sole and exclusive owner” of the master recordings and that Azor, not Salt-N-Pepa, transferred those rights to Next Plateau Records, a UMG predecessor.[2] Because Section 203 only allows authors to terminate grants they personally executed, the court concluded the duo could not use the statute to reclaim copyrights they reportedly never owned.[2][3]
The ruling also tossed out Salt-N-Pepa’s separate conversion claim, in which they alleged UMG wrongfully interfered with their possession of the physical master tapes, finding that they had not established ownership of those tapes either, legal analyses note.[2][1] A UMG spokesperson said in a statement to the music-business press that the company was “gratified” the court dismissed what it called a “baseless lawsuit,” adding that UMG had previously attempted to resolve the dispute by improving the duo’s compensation and maintaining access to their music “without any legal obligation” to do so.[2][1]
Salt-N-Pepa’s legal team had framed the case as part of a broader movement for legacy artists to regain control of their work, particularly as portions of the group’s catalog were reportedly pulled from streaming services amid the dispute, drawing attention to the power imbalance between early hip-hop pioneers and the labels that control their masters.[1] According to IP law reporting on the decision, the court’s opinion stressed that while the Copyright Act’s termination provisions were designed to rebalance that power, artists must still satisfy the statute’s technical ownership and grant requirements to invoke those rights.[3]
Although the lawsuit has been dismissed, the decision is already being viewed within the industry as a significant test case for how older hip-hop and R&B acts can—or cannot—use termination rights to reclaim classic recordings controlled by major labels.[2][3] Salt-N-Pepa have publicly positioned the fight as bigger than their own catalog, pledging to continue advocating for artist ownership and fairer deals for the next generation of rappers and creators, even as they explore whatever legal or negotiation avenues remain reportedly available after this setback.[1][3]
