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Salt-N-Pepa Catalog Battle: UMG Says Duo Not Entitled to Own Their Master Recordings
Universal Music Group (UMG) has fired back at Salt-N-Pepa’s attempt to regain control over their master recordings, claiming that the hip-hop duo is not entitled to own them.
In a motion filed Thursday, UMG argued that Salt-N-Pepa does not have any termination rights as they were not involved in signing away their masters. The label says that the duo’s producer, Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor, signed the deal on their behalf.
According to the court documents, the deal was made between Next Plateau Records and Azor, which is now a part of UMG. The motion reads, “There was never an intention to effectuate a copyright transfer from plaintiffs. The only transfer is made by producer as the copyright owner to Next Plateau.”
UMG also stated that termination rights do not apply to derivative works, including remixes, citing several instances where Salt-N-Pepa’s recordings are remixed versions of their original hits.
Despite the controversy surrounding the matter, it remains unclear what will happen in court.
Source: www.billboard.com
