The world's largest music company says an appellate court should reject the rappers' legal challenge. (L-R) Sandra Denton aka Pepa and Cheryl James aka Salt of Salt-N-Pepa perform onstage during the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026 in Hollywood, California. Monica Schipper/Getty Images Trending on Billboard Universal Music Group (UMG) is continuing to fight Salt-N-Pepa ’s attempt to claw back ownership of the duo’s master recordings, arguing in a new appellate filing that copyright law’s termination right is not absolute. The world’s largest music company submitted a brief on Tuesday (May 5) urging the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the challenge lodged by Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton. The rappers sued UMG last year for refusing to revert their iconic late ’80s and early ’90s catalog under the so-called “termination right,” a tenet of the U.S.…