Sting has paid £595,000 to his former The Police bandmates since facing legal action over unpaid royalties, the High Court has heard.
Drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andrew Summers contend they are owed more than $2m (£1.49m) in “arranger’s fees” by bassist Sting and his company Magnetic Publishing.
Their barrister claimed that arranger’s fees – an arrangement where a songwriter would give 15% of publishing income to the other two bandmates – had not been paid from money generated through streaming, according to court documents filed in December 2024.
Their case hinges on the interpretation of various agreements made between the band’s formation in the late 1970s and 2016.
Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland (from left) as The Police in 1982. Pic: AP
But Robert Howe KC, for Sting, said in written submissions for a preliminary hearing at the High Court on Wednesday that the arrangement does not apply to streaming and should only apply to physical products such as vinyl and cassettes.
He also said Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, has paid more than $800,000 (£595,000) in “certain admitted historic underpayments” since legal action was launched in late 2024.
Mr Howe explained that the musicians couldn’t agree on how the phrases “mechanical income” and “public performance fees” apply to streaming, which continues to generate significant income.
The barrister highlighted a “professionally drafted” agreement in 2016, which he said states that Sting and his publishing company only owe money on mechanical income “from the manufacture of records”.
The Police bandmates during their world tour in 2007. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, Ian Mill KC, representing Mr Copeland and Mr Summers and their companies, Megalo Music, Kent Foundation Laboratories and Kinetic Kollections, said the agreements go back to 1977.
He added that the band – with hits including Every Breath You Take, Roxanne and Message In A Bottle – agreed on the 15% figure before formalising it in written contracts later.
In the upcoming trial, the issue to be determined was “whether the parties have accounted to each other for arranger’s fees correctly in accordance with the terms of the 2016 settlement agreement”, Mr Mill said.
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In the court documents Mr Mills filed in 2024, Mr Mills said Mr Copeland and Mr Summers believe the 2016 agreement means they are entitled to a share of money “from all publishing income derived from all manner of commercial exploitation”.
The preliminary hearing is set to conclude on Thursday, with the trial expected at a later date.
