Salt-N-Pepa’s Master Fight Tests the 35-Year Termination Trap

Salt-N-Pepa have filed a 71-page appellate brief to revive their lawsuit against Universal Music Group, attempting to use Section 203 of the Copyright Act to reclaim their 1986 master recordings. The move follows a January dismissal by Judge Denise Cote, who ruled the duo’s original contracts didn't prove they ever owned the copyrights to begin with.

The legal friction sits on a razor's edge: UMG argues the duo were essentially "work-for-hire" creators for producer Hurby Azor’s NITA Productions, while Salt-N-Pepa’s counsel, Richard S. Busch, argues that copyright vests automatically in the author upon creation. The duo is fighting to overturn the ruling that they needed to "expressly assert" ownership in a 40-year-old contract to qualify for termination rights today.

This isn't just a legacy play; it’s a stress test for the entire "reversion" economy. If the court upholds the dismissal, it creates a blueprint for labels to argue that any artist who signed a production deal before a major distribution deal never "owned" anything to transfer. It’s a technicality that turns a foundational right into a ghost.

Reporting via musicbusinessworldwide.com and billboard.com.