The feud between Sting and his former Police bandmates is raging on after Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland sued him over royalties.
Sting, real name Gordon Matthew Sumner, was handed a High Court writ in August, which claimed his former bandmates were ‘owed millions’.
Now, the Roxanne singer’s lawyer has hit back and branded the guitarist and drummer ‘substantially overpaid’.
The Police originally formed in 1977, storming to fame with hits like Message in a Bottle, Don’t Stand So Close to Me, and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.
According to the New York Times, the group initally had an agreement that Summers and Copeland would get 15 per cent of ‘some royalties’ from the tracks Sting wrote on his own.
This includes their biggest hit Every Breath You Take, which was the best-selling single of 1983 and the fifth best-selling of the decade, with reports claiming Sting earns £550,000 a year from it.
The deal was intented to ‘keep things sweet’ between the group, however, Summers and Copeland now argue that they need ‘arranger’s fees’ from the ‘digital explotation’ of the music.
Sting’s lawyers hit back that a deal over fees was struck in 2016 when the band clashed over the usage of The Police’s music in TV and Film.
They added that this was an ‘illegitimate attempt’ to reinterpret that agreement, claiming that the pair were actually ‘substantially overpaid’ based on those previous terms.
A source previously told The Sun: ‘This has been coming for quite some time. Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate.
‘Andy and Stewart decided there was no alternative than court, so pressed the button. They say they are owed millions in lost royalties.’
Sting, 73, was named as a defendant along with his company Magnetic Publishing Limited for the ‘general commercial contracts and arrangements’ issue.
After storming the charts in the 80s,the group has broken up and reformed multiple times over the yeas, first parting ways in 1984 and most recently reuniting in 2008.
After their initial separation, Sting went on to have a successful solo career, releasing 15 albums between 1985 and 2021, many of which have gone platinum.
Metro has reached out to Sting, Summers and Copeland for comment.
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