Why is Sting being sued by his Police bandmates?

4 September 2025, 13:26

Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are in a royalties dispute with Sting.

Sting has been touring the world this past summer, and in addition to tracks from his massive solo career, he's also been playing the biggest and best songs by his former band The Police.

The Police haven't played together since the final show of their last reunion tour in 2008, and now guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland have filed a civil case filed at the High Court over what they say are unpaid royalties.

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While there's a sprinkling of songs across The Police's back catalogue credited to Summers or Copeland, the vast majority – and all of the band's hit singles – only have Sting's name listed as writer.

That's despite Andy Summers continuing claim to have written a key part of 'Every Breath You Take'.

"That song was going in the trash until I played on it, and that's all there is to it," he has said. "And I think that’s composition, absolutely."

Even leaving that dispute to one side, there are known to have been various agreements between the band members about sharing income related those songs, BBC News reports.

The Police - Every Breath You Take (Official Music Video)

From 1977 it appears that when one member wrote a song they would share a percentage of its publishing, said to have usually been 15% and listed as an "arrangers' fee", with the other two members.

That would include not just 'Every Breath You Take', but other Sting-penned hits like 'Roxanne', 'Message in a Bottle' and 'Don't Stand So Close To Me'.

This agreement was formalised in 1981, when the band was still a going concern, with revisions taking place in 1995, when they were not together, and again in 2016.

Sting claims that the agreement covers only mechanical royalties, which are generally paid each time a song is reproduced in a physical or digital format, like CD, vinyl and digital downloads.

Summers and Copeland say it also covers performance royalties, which are paid when songs are played in public, which covers not just live performances but also TV shows and radio play.

Plays on streaming services – like Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music – generate both mechanical and performance royalties.

While Summers and Copeland suggest that Sting owes them about £1.5 million, Sting's legal team suggest that actually they may owe him overpaid money.

As well as claiming that Summers and Copeland aren't entitled to performance royalties, his lawyers say that under their 2016 agreement they're not allowed to pursue any historic or future claims over royalties.

His former bandmates say this clause doesn't prevent them actually disputing that agreement.