Ricardo Montaner is suing Universal Music Group (UMG) over the ownership of his early album masters.
The singer, who is one of the best-selling music artists, has brought lawsuits in the US and Venezuela, alleging UMG is refusing to revert the rights to his first five releases between 1986 and 1992.
These albums include the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart-toppers La Cima Del Cielo, Castillo Azul and Piel Adentro.
According to Billboard, Montaner alleges that UMG has not paid him “any royalties whatsoever” since taking control of his masters in 2001.
He served a legal notice on the company in 2022, exercising his termination right under a copyright law that allows authors to reclaim their intellectual property decades after signing it away.
Believing he owned his first five albums as of 2024, Montaner entered into a distribution deal with ADA Latin in 2025. But UMG is maintaining that the artist’s termination notice was invalid.
Now, Ricardo Montaner is asking the courts to “declare that Montaner is the rightful owner of the albums and to enjoin defendants from interfering with plaintiffs’ right to exploit the albums in any way they choose”. He also wants financial damages from UMG.
The company is also currently litigating a similar termination rights dispute with Salt-N-Pepa. A judge threw out the lawsuit in January, but an appeal remains ongoing.
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