Salt-N-Pepa face major set-back in Universal Music Group lawsuit

Posted On January 10, 2026January 10, 2026

A federal judge has ruled that the iconic hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa never owned the copyrights to its earliest works, officially siding with Universal Music Group.

The duo, consisting of Cheryl ‘Salt’ James and Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, filed a copyright lawsuit against Universal Music Group in New York on May 19th, citing the 1976 Copyright Act that grants artists the right to reclaim ownership of master recordings and terminate past agreements after 35 years.

Salt-N-Pepa had signed contracts with subsidiaries of Universal in 1986 and 1992, according to the lawsuit. They served notices of termination in 2022. The lawsuit went on to allege that the company did not honor the latter request. In response, Universal stated that it had offered to enter mediation to settle the dispute.

On January 8th, a judge ruled that the hip-hop group cannot regain the copyrights because, as Universal argued, the recordings were “works made for hire,” and not subject to the reclaiming of rights.

The projects in question include the iconic 1980s hit, ‘Push It’, which peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the charts in the UK.

Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote in an 18-page dismissal that “none of the contracts identified by plaintiffs indicate that they ever owned the master tapes.”

However, Universal has said that it “remains open” to finding a resolution over the matter, which has seen Salt-N-Pepa’s early discography removed from streaming platforms.

A spokesman for Universal said in a statement, “Even with the court’s complete rejection of their claims, we remain open and willing to find a resolution to the matter and turn the page so we can focus our efforts on working together to amplify Salt-N-Pepa’s legacy for generations to come.”

In 2024, Salt-N-Pepa were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame via the ‘Musical Influence Award’, joining Missy Elliott as the only female hip-hop acts to gain the status among music’s upper echelons.

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