"A Nasty Little Song"

Sting once famously described "Every Breath You Take" as a "nasty little song" about surveillance and obsession, despite it being played at countless weddings. Now, the song's nastiness has spilled over into the courtroom.

Sting and his former bandmates, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, are heading to the High Court over a complex royalties dispute.

The Bone of Contention

The dispute centers on the specific allocation of streaming and performance royalties. While Sting wrote the song, the iconic guitar riff by Andy Summers and the deceptively simple drum beat by Stewart Copeland are integral to its sound. For decades, an uneasy truce existed. But recent audits of digital revenue streams have seemingly reopened old wounds.

A Legacy of Friction

The Police were famous for hating each other even at the height of their fame. They often fought physically in the studio. This lawsuit feels like a final, unhappy coda to one of the most volatile partnerships in rock history. "We were three alpha males in a cage," Copeland has said in the past. It seems the cage is now a courtroom.

Impact on the Catalog

This legal battle comes at a time when many legacy artists are selling their catalogs for massive sums. Uncertainty over royalty splits could devalue The Police's collective works, making a future sale more difficult.

The case is expected to be heard later this month.