Notice To Appeal: Salt-N-Pepa Not Backing Down From UMG Copyright Lawsuit

A federal judge found that those contracts did not show that Salt-N-Pepa themselves ever owned or transferred copyright ownership of their music.

Pioneering hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa have filed a notice of appeal after a federal judge dismissed their lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG)

The notice of appeal was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote dismissed the case Jan. 8, iHeart reported. The dismissal stemmed from a dispute over whether Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton ever owned the copyrights to their early recordings. According to the ruling, the group “never owned the copyrights to their sound recordings and therefore cannot reclaim them.”

Salt-N-Pepa originally sued UMG in May 2025, arguing that the 1976 Copyright Act gave them the right to terminate older contracts and regain ownership of their master recordings. The lawsuit cited Section 203 of the Copyright Act, which allows artists to reclaim copyrights 35 years after transfer.

The legal fight focuses on agreements from 1986 involving the group’s first label, Noise in the Attic Productions, and a distribution agreement with Next Plateau Records. Judge Cote found that those contracts did not show that Salt-N-Pepa themselves ever owned or transferred copyright ownership.

Salt-N-Pepa calls out UMG during their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech for obstructing the rights to their catalog: “The industry still doesn’t want to play fair” pic.twitter.com/dJUJFyKVYa
— Variety (@Variety) November 9, 2025

UMG argued in its motion to dismiss that the recordings were “works made for hire.” Additionally, the work belonged to the label or producer under the terms of the original contracts. After the initial ruling, representatives for Salt-N-Pepa immediately expressed their intent to pursue their rights on appeal. In response to the dismissal, they said they remain committed to “vindicating and reclaiming our rights as creators under the Copyright Act.”

UMG has defended the dismissal. In a statement, a spokesperson said the company was “gratified that the court dismissed this baseless lawsuit” but remains “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,” BLACK ENTERPRISE reported.