Rap duo Salt-N-Pepa ask Second Circuit to revive UMG copyright case

Salt-N-Pepa asked the Second Circuit to revive their bid to reclaim ownership of their first four albums from Universal Music Group, after a district judge dismissed the case in January on grounds that the group's original 1986 agreements never actually granted them the copyrights they're now trying to terminate.

Their attorney argued the lower court invented a legal requirement that artists must expressly assert ownership, calling it contrary to the intent of copyright termination law; UMG countered that the plain language of the agreements shows the transfer came from producer Hurby Azor's company, not the duo themselves.

The panel, including a judge who questioned how copyrights could transfer before songs were even recorded, did not rule from the bench, leaving Salt-N-Pepa's catalogue ownership unresolved.

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