The Police royalties case has hit the High Court in London and Sting has admitted that since his two ex-bandmates launched legal proceedings last year he has paid Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland $800,000.
The guitarist and drummer filed the case last year, alleging they owed more than $2 million (£1.5 million) by Sting and his publishing company from download sales and streaming of the Police’s back catalogue.
The case revolves around the agreements made during the band’s lifespan in the late '70s and early '80s. Summers and Copeland contend that the trio made an “oral agreement” to share income which was later formalised into written contracts. This meant that when one member wrote a song the other two would share a percentage – usually 15% - of what was often termed an ‘arranger’s fee’.
Sting was the band’s main songwriter, but the other two often made significant contributions to his songs: Summers' guitar line on Every Breath You Take - one of the most played songs of all time, lest us forget - being a prime example.
The band’s agreement stayed in place throughout the era of physical sales. The problem seems to have cropped up since the advent of downloads and streaming.
Sting’s lawyers are contending that streaming counts as “public performance” and not a sale and in any case the agreement only covered royalties "from the manufacture of records".
Summers and Copeland’s legal teams are arguing that the language of the band’s agreements, last made in 1997 and 2016, should be interpreted in light of the changes to the record industry, in which streaming has largely replaced physical artefacts as the main way of delivering music to consumers.
None of the band members was in court today (January 14) for the start of the preliminary hearing. In the court papers, Summers and Copeland say that they have acknowledged that recent payment of $870,000 from Sting but have noted that no interest has been added to what they regard as a “historic underpayment”.
Even during their lifetime, the Police were a notoriously fractious group. They split up in 1986 though they reformed for a lucrative world tour in 2008, a reunion, which given the ill-feeling still evident between the three members, is unlikely to be repeated.
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