Sting Sued by the Rest of The Police for “Every Breath You Take” Royalties

The Police are out to get Sting, with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers suing their former bandmate over lost royalties for the song “Every Breath You Take.”

Sting is listed as a defendant under his real name, Gordon Matthew Sumner, alongside his company Magnetic Publishing Limited. Via People and The Daily Mail, he makes £550,000, or about $740,000, from “Every Breath You Take” royalties each year. The song credits only one composer and lyricist, Sting, with Copeland and Summers alleging that they’ve been cheated out of millions of dollars of royalties because they did not receive co-writing credits on the song.

“Every Breath You Take” was released in 1983, becoming the best-selling song of that year and the fifth-highest selling track of the 1980s.

One person 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.”

Earlier this year it looked like at least Sting and Summers had put their disagreements aside, collaborating on a new version of “Murder by Numbers” with Christian McBride. Before that, they hadn’t worked together since The Police reunion tour that kicked off in 2007.