Former bandmates from The Police have sued Sting over alleged lost royalties from multiple songs they recorded together.
Guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland have reportedly filed a civil suit in the London High Court claiming they were never given writing credits for songs such as “Roxanne” and “Every Breath You Take” and so were owed compensation based on agreements that were never honoured.
Although they did not receive writing credits on those songs, they say the band entered an “oral agreement” to share income in 1977, which was later formalised in written contracts.
Sting is credited to have written all the band’s biggest hits, denies underpaying his bandmates. In court documents, his lawyers called the claims “illegitimate.”
The Police formed in 1977 and quickly became one of the UK’s most commercially successful bands.
They earned a US number one single with Every Breath You Take, taken from their fifth album, Synchronicity, in 1983.
It was later recognised as the most-played radio song of all time and was heavily sampled on P Diddy and Faith Evans’ 1997 song I’ll Be Missing You.
However, the band split up in 1984 amid personal and musical animosity.
The current legal dispute centres around which categories of publishing income Summers and Copeland should receive compensation. It is a complicated area, but royalties are generally split into two separate categories:
- Performance royalties – which are paid when a song is played in public, on the radio, or via a streaming service.
- Mechanical royalties – paid when a song is pressed to CD or vinyl, but also when it is streamed on demand.
Summers and Copeland argue that they should be paid for both categories, while Sting says their agreement only covers mechanical royalties.
Sting’s lawyers further contend that, under the terms of the band’s 2016 agreement, all three members agreed not to pursue any historic or future claims over royalties.
His bandmates claim that does not stop them disputing the terms of the 2016 agreement.
They claim a loss of about £1,500,000. Sting’s lawyers denied they had been underpaid and argued that, in fact, Summers and Copeland may owe him money that has been overpaid to them.
In 2022, the musician sold the rights to his songwriting catalogue to Universal Music Group, with the deal covering both his solo hits and songs he penned for the Police.
The deal was estimated to be worth $200 million.