Sting’s lawyer hits back and claims Police bandmates have been “substantially overpaid”

Sting‘s lawyer has hit back after the musician was sued by his former Police bandmates over lost royalties.

The soloist and ex-frontman/primary songwriter of the London trio (real name Gordon Sumner) is being taken to court for “substantial” damages by guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland. It follows years of legal disputes between the group, whose biggest hits include ‘Roxanne’, ‘Message In A Bottle’ and ‘Every Breath You Take’.

The latter – which appears on the band’s fifth and final album, ‘Synchronicity’ – was the best-selling single of 1983, and the fifth best-selling of the decade. Sting, who is credited as the sole songwriter on the track, reportedly earns £550,000 a year in royalties from that song alone.

The case is said to have been listed at London’s High Court under “general commercial contracts and arrangements”, with Sting appearing as a defendant along with his company, Magnetic Publishing Limited.

While the artist himself is yet to respond to the lawsuit directly, his lawyer claimed that Summers and Copeland have actually been “substantially overpaid.”

According to a New York Times report, Sting came up with an agreement with his two bandmates when they formed the Police in 1977, wherein he allegedly promised Summers and Copeland 15 per cent of “some royalties” from the songs that Sting wrote by himself, and that was intended to “keep things sweet” within the band.

Sting is the sole credited writer of most of the band’s most enduring hits, and Summers and Copeland argue that Sting now owes them “arranger’s fees” from the “digital exploitation” of the Police’s music.

However, Sting’s lawyers contend that he and his bandmates signed an agreement over arranger’s fees back in 2016, when they disagreed about the use of the Police’s songs in TV shows and movies. According to Sting’s lawyers, the lawsuit is an “illegitimate attempt” to reinterpret that agreement and claims Sting actually “substantially overpaid” Summers and Copeland, based on the terms of the 2016 agreement.

As aforementioned, the Police formed back in 1977, before breaking up in the mid-’80s, and went on to reunite numerous times, with their most recent shows held in 2008.

Sting has enjoyed a hugely successful solo career, too. He headlined this year’s editions of the Isle Of Wight Festival and Latitude, and is set to bring his ‘Sting 3.0’ tour to London this autumn. Find any remaining tickets here.

In 2023, The Police launched an official TikTok account to mark the 40th anniversary of ‘Synchronicity’.

Sting said in 2021 that he regretted reforming the trio in 2007, calling the tour that followed “an exercise in nostalgia”. He explained at the time that he preferred being a solo artist due to the “total freedom” it offered.

“It’s not a power thing, at all; it’s just about producing exactly the brand and style of music that feels right for you,” he said.

Earlier this year, Sting praised the choir cover of his song ‘Fragile’ that features on Adolescence, calling the rendition “beautiful”.

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