3 Count: Salt-N-Pepa

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1: Salt-N-Pepa Lawsuit Against Universal Music Group Over Ownership of Master Recordings Dismissed

First off today, Murray Stassen at Music Business Worldwide reports that a federal judge has dismissed a copyright termination case filed by Cheryl James and Sandra Denton, better known as Salt-N-Pepa, that they filed against Universal Music Group (UMG).

The group filed the lawsuit in May 2025 seeking to regain control of their copyrights. Under copyright termination, original creators can terminate transfers and agreements after a set period of time, namely 35 years after the original transfer.

According to the judge, the case was dismissed because James and Denton were never the original copyright holders. According to a 1986 contract, the producer is the one who held the copyright and entered into the agreement with UMG. As such, the judge found that there was no copyright transfer to terminate. James and Denton have said that they plan on appealing.

2: Italy Fines Cloudflare €14 Million for Refusing to Filter Pirate Sites on Public 1.1.1.1 DNS

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that AGCOM, the Italian communication regulator, has imposed a €14.2 million ($16.5 million) fine against Cloudflare after the company refused to filter suspected pirate sites on its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver.

In 2024, Italy launched its Piracy Shield program, which requires internet service providers in the country to block access to pirate sites. One of the ways users can circumvent the system is to use a different DNS resolver, such as 1.1.1.1. As such, AGCOM ordered Cloudflare to participate in the program, though it has refused.

According to Cloudflare, such blocking is disproportionate and would impact users all over the world, not just in Italy. AGCOM was unmoved by this argument and handed down the fine. Cloudflare is widely expected to appeal the fine.

3: Paramount Beats ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Copyright Lawsuit Over Screenplay Credit

Finally today, Winston Cho at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff ruled in favor of Paramount in a case involving the film Top Gun: Maverick and the cousin of one of the film’s writers.

The lawsuit was filed by Shaun Gray, the cousin of screenwriter Eric Warren Singer. Gray alleged that he wrote several scenes in the film but was denied a writer’s credit. However, the judge has ruled that his scenes were, in and of themselves, infringing derivative works of the earlier Top Gun film and that Gray had hidden his involvement with the film.

The result is that the court has tossed Gray’s claim but is leaving Paramount’s counterclaim against Gray intact. This means that, no only did the court find Paramount had not infringed Gray’s work, but that Gray may have infringed Paramount’s intellectual property and may have to face those allegations at trial.

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