Sting shells out over £500k in Police royalties amid streaming dispute

Sting has paid his former Police bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland more than £500,000 in royalties after acknowledging underpayment; court filings reveal a recent payment of about $870,000 while Summers and Copeland claim they are owed more than $2 million in publishing income. They argue an oral agreement from 1977, later formalised, entitled them to a 15% share of income from songs like Roxanne and Every Breath You Take, including streaming revenue, whereas Sting’s side says streaming income isn’t royalty-bearing under their 2016 contract (which covers manufacturing) and that the case should not extend to download/digital royalties. The London High Court is considering whether to allow new arguments to claim streaming and download royalties under older contracts, a dispute rooted in The Police’s 1977–84 era, a 2007 reunion, and Sting’s 2022 sale of his songwriting catalogue to Universal Music Group.