Sting’s Ex-Bandmates Want $10M From Him
Lead vocalist and bassist Sting, left, guitarist Andy Summers, right, and drummer Stewart Copeland of the Police perform their farewell concert at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
A long-simmering legal battle over Every Breath You Take is pulling The Police back into the kind of conflict that surrounded the song’s creation more than four decades ago.
This week, London’s High Court is considering whether Sting’s former bandmates—drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers—are entitled to a larger share of the song’s massive and continuing earnings, particularly from streaming. Copeland and Summers argue that Sting owes them at least $10.7 million, and possibly far more, for their contributions to the band’s catalog, including the 1983 hit and earlier songs such as Roxanne, according to the BBC.
Sting’s legal team disputes the claim, saying earlier royalty agreements never contemplated digital streaming and asserting that Copeland and Summers may have already been “substantially overpaid.” Court filings show that Sting has paid the pair about $870,000 since the lawsuit was filed last year to cover what he acknowledges were historic underpayments, the Guardian reports. However, the fight over future earnings remains unresolved.
The stakes are enormous. Every Breath You Take is one of the most streamed songs in the world, currently drawing roughly 3.5 million plays per day on Spotify and ranking in the platform’s global daily Top 10. Its popularity has surged again in recent years thanks to its use in Stranger Things and widespread exposure on TikTok. Although Sting is the song’s sole credited writer, Copeland and Summers receive 15% of publishing royalties under a 1977 agreement.
The two musicians contend that this deal—and later agreements—should also apply to revenue from streaming and downloads. They have additionally argued that Sting should pay interest on the $870,000 already paid, according to the BBC. Sting counters that a 2016 agreement limits royalty payments to income generated “from the manufacture of records,” excluding digital streams.
The dispute echoes the band’s famously volatile past. The Police’s internal tensions peaked during the recording of their fifth album, Synchronicity, which includes Every Breath You Take. In a 2023 interview with the Guardian, Copeland recalled that the sessions were “very dark,” saying band members “beat the crap out of each other” while making the album.
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