Every cent you take: Sting, The Police’s former band mates fight in court over royalties

London – London’s High Court on Jan 14 began hearing a lawsuit brought against the singer Sting by his former The Police bandmates claiming some US$2 million (S$2.58 million) in unpaid streaming royalties.

Guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland are taking legal action against Sting, whose real name is Mr Gordon Sumner, arguing they are entitled to the added royalties.

None of the band members appeared in court at the start of a two-day preliminary hearing.

Sting is contesting the pair’s claim that they are entitled to “in excess of two million US dollars” in so-called performance royalties of songs recorded as The Police, according to the court documents.

The plaintiffs are relying on a nearly 50-year-old verbal agreement stipulating that each member of the group should receive 15 per cent of the royalties generated by the other members’ compositions.

Sting, the trio’s bassist and singer, composed all their hits, from Roxanne to Message In A Bottle

Consequently, he receives by far the largest share of the group’s royalties.

The Police recorded five albums which were released between 1978 and 1983.

The original agreement acknowledged the, at times, crucial contributions of the other two members, such as Mr Summers’ guitar arpeggios on Every Breath You Take.

The verbal agreement reached in 1977 was later formalised through a written agreement in 1981.

A further agreement reiterated, albeit vaguely, the terms in 1997, before the existence of streaming.

The terms were reaffirmed in 2016 in an agreement intended to settle all financial disputes between the members of the group whose relationship by then had long become strained.

The term “streaming”, however, was not explicitly mentioned.

The dispute concerns the classification of revenue generated from services such as Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music for the purpose of royalty distribution.

Streaming revenue is traditionally divided between so-called “mechanical” royalties, collected for each reproduction of a composition, such as records, and so-called “performance” royalties, paid for the broadcast of songs, for example, on the radio.

But only mechanical royalties are included in the 2016 agreement, something Mr Summers and Mr Copeland consider contrary to the spirit of the original 1977 agreement.

They are demanding their share of all streaming revenue. Representatives for Sting, who sold his catalogue to Universal in 2022 for a reported US$250 million, have called the legal action an “illegitimate” attempt to reinterpret the agreement.

They argue that some of the sums paid could actually constitute overpayment. AFP