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It's one of the most played songs on radio and used in countless TV shows and movies. And now Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers want their cut over "Every Breath You Take," which they allege goes entirely to Sting.
Sting Being Sued by Former Police Bandmates over Lost Royalties: Reports
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Wasn't Sting the composer? In my mind, wouldn't the band mates have been paid by A&M as part of their contract, when they made their performances during recording, video production, and Synchronicity touring? Then that's that ... isn't it?
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Jody Thornton wrote:
Wasn't Sting the composer? In my mind, wouldn't the band mates have been paid by A&M as part of their contract, when they made their performances during recording, video production, and Synchronicity touring? Then that's that ... isn't it?
You’re right Jody, Sting is the composer but Copeland and Summers feel they are owed royalties for the drum and guitar part they respectively composed. Apparently the original recording was Sting singing over a Hammond organ, no guitar until Summers came up with the catchy note picking part. Copeland’s drum part is fairly straightforward but he feels slighted as well, plus he and Sting hate each other so there’s that…..! Oddly, this was the song that put me off the Police, no more blue eyed reggae!
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Jody Thornton wrote:
Wasn't Sting the composer? In my mind, wouldn't the band mates have been paid by A&M as part of their contract, when they made their performances during recording, video production, and Synchronicity touring? Then that's that ... isn't it?
The way I understand it, songwriting royalties and royalties from the recording of the song are two separate things. Copeland and Summers are alleging that they contributed to the writing of the song, but weren't actually given credit, and subsequently didn't receive any royalties that come from songwriting credits; eg., like when another artist covers your song.
It does seem rather strange that they waited 42 years after the fact to bring this suit to light, though.
PJ
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I'm quite sure, with every breath he takes, that Sting will be watching them!
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Paul Jeffries wrote:
The way I understand it, songwriting royalties and royalties from the recording of the song are two separate things. Copeland and Summers are alleging that they contributed to the writing of the song, but weren't actually given credit, and subsequently didn't receive any royalties that come from songwriting credits; eg., like when another artist covers your song.
It does seem rather strange that they waited 42 years after the fact to bring this suit to light, though.
PJ
I suppose in the case where the song was sampled in the mid 90s (was it a Faith Evans song?), you only hear Andy and Stewart, since none of Sting's voice or lyrics were heard. I could see a case for performance royalties there. Otherwise, it seems they waited WAY TOO long to take any other action, at least to be taken seriously.
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RadioActive wrote:
I'm quite sure, with every breath he takes, that Sting will be watching them!
Naa, he can afford to pay someone to do that for him!
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Sting can keep the royalties for Don't Stand so Close to Me '86. Easily the worst song of that decade.
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Chrisphen wrote:
Sting can keep the royalties for Don't Stand so Close to Me '86. Easily the worst song of that decade.
I very much liked the original. I also disliked the '86 remake, but I was glad I found it on a 12" single. It included a reissue of the original track on the second side, and it used a quarter of the side to hold the track. That means grooves were spaced apart nicely, and it was cut louder. Man, did it sound REALLY good.
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Someone needs to lock those 3 in a room and show them the gross from the Oasis tour. I'm geussing they could generate numbers in that neighbourhood and they wouldn't even need to talk to each other.
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bbqguy1962 wrote:
Someone needs to lock those 3 in a room and show them the gross from the Oasis tour. I'm geussing they could generate numbers in that neighbourhood and they wouldn't even need to talk to each other.
Indeedy bbqguy1962. A reimagining of the Secret Policeman's Other Ball with performances by Yungblud, Wolf Alice, Rowan Atkinson , Midge Ure, Gary Numan, the Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Goldfrapp, the reunited Police as the main musical act, and then the surviving members of Monty Python Eric Idle, John Cleese and Michael Palin featuring Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Billy Connolly filling in for Gilliam, Chapman and Jones would be a wonderful, wonderful thing. I'd kill to see something like it.
Last edited by betaylored (August 27, 2025 8:20 pm)
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Jody Thornton wrote:
Wasn't Sting the composer? In my mind, wouldn't the band mates have been paid by A&M as part of their contract, when they made their performances during recording, video production, and Synchronicity touring? Then that's that ... isn't it?
Supertramp has been going through the same issue. Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies did all their composing, either separately or together, or occasionally with early band members. The classic lineup band made an agreement back in 1977 to share their songwriting royalties with bassist Dougie Thomson, drummer Bob Siebenberg and saxophonist John Helliwell. They stopped paying in 2018 (I believe Davies was too ill to tour anymore and even Hodgson has stopped touring since then) so the other trio sued, with the writers arguing they were not obliged to share forever. They reached a settlement with Davies in 2023 and now Hodgson has been ordered by the courts to, ahem, give a little bit:
Last edited by DX (August 27, 2025 10:03 pm)