DETROIT, MI, January 20, 2026 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Patent Baron® is highlighting a major legal development with major implications for creators, musicians, and content entrepreneurs. A federal judge has dismissed Salt-N-Pepa's lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), holding that the legendary duo could not reclaim ownership of their master recordings under Section 203 of the Copyright Act because they never owned the copyrights to the sound recordings in the first place.

Salt-N-Pepa attempted to use Section 203 termination rights, a legal mechanism designed to allow creators to reclaim rights after 35 years. But the court found that their original agreements reflected ownership sitting with a producer-controlled entity, not the artists themselves.

Why This Matters Now

This decision is a powerful reminder that ownership is not a feeling it is documentation. The case reinforces a hard truth that modern creators face every day: even if you are the public face of the content, the copyright ownership can quietly pass to someone else through contract structure, chain of title problems, or missing assignments.

The court emphasized that termination rights apply only to copyright transfers executed by the author—meaning the creator must have actually owned the rights at some point and transferred them. If creators never had ownership on paper, the law cannot "restore" it later.

The Patent Baron® Perspective: Chain of Title Wins Every Time

At The Patent Baron®, we help creators and founder-led businesses avoid the same trap through proactive ownership design, including:

• clear authorship and ownership language
• strategic work-for-hire clauses when appropriate
• present-tense copyright assignments as backup protection
• rights controls for raw files, deliverables, and monetization
• exit and enforcement protection built into agreements

The Big Lesson

Salt-N-Pepa didn't lose because they weren't famous enough. They lost because the court followed the paperwork. When ownership never lived with the creator "on paper," reclaiming it later becomes far more difficult—sometimes impossible.

Creators who monetize content libraries must lock down rights early—before the content becomes valuable.

About The Patent Baron®

The Patent Baron® helps creators, entrepreneurs, and content-driven businesses protect ownership, monetize intellectual property, and build enforceable rights systems designed for scale.

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