Sting pays £595k to The Police bandmates amid legal battle over royalties

Posted On January 15, 2026January 15, 2026

Sting has paid out £595,000 to his former The Police bandmates, Stewart Copeland and Andrew Summers, since facing legal action over unpaid royalties.

This payout comes amid years of legal rows between the trio, with Summers and Copeland accusing Sting, real name Gordon Sumner, of losing royalties from the band which were owed to them.

Copeland and Summers contend that they are owed more than £1.49 million in “arranger’s fees” by the bassist and his company, Magnetic Publishing.

The High Court claimed that the Arrangers’ fees, which are an arrangement whereby a songwriter would give 15 per cent of publishing income to the other two bandmates, had not yet been paid, according to the 2024 court documents.

The fees that had not been paid specifically relate to streaming versions of The Police songs. However, on behalf of Sting, Robert Howe KC has argued that the arrangement does not apply to streaming; it should only apply to physical products such as vinyl and cassettes.

Howe also stressed that Sting has paid more than £595,000 in “certain admitted historic underpayments” since legal action was launched in late 2024 over hits like ‘Every Breath You Take’ and ‘Roxanne’.

The musicians appear to be disputing over the true meaning of “mechanical income” and “public performance fees” from former signed contracts.

Sting’s barrister highlighted a “professionally drafted” agreement in 2016, which allegedly states that Sting and his publishing company only owe money on mechanical income “from the manufacture of records”.

However, Copeland and Summer’s representative, Ian Mill KC, gestured towards agreements as far back as 1977.

Tensions between the members of The Police have been building for decades, even since they were still together as a band, as Copeland once said: “Looking back, I’m grateful that we got at least five albums, because, really, it was over after the third album. After Zenyatta Mondatta, which was the first time the tension started to appear, and by the time we got to Montserrat for Ghost in the Machine, it was hell on Earth.”

Preliminary hearings are set to conclude on January 15th, while the trial is expected to come at a later date.

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