Why Andy Summers Is Suing Sting Over "Every Breath You Take

Andy Summers wrote the delicate, hypnotic guitar riff that runs through "Every Breath You Take" — arguably the most recognizable guitar part in all of pop music. He's never earned a single penny of songwriting royalties for it. Sting, the sole credited writer, reportedly earns around £550,000 a year from that one song. Now Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland have taken Sting to London's High Court. How can the man who wrote the most famous part of a song be legally entitled to nothing? In this video we break down the counterintuitive answer: why music copyright protects the "composition" — melody, lyrics, chords — but has traditionally treated a guitar riff as mere "arrangement" that earns no songwriting money. It's one of the oldest and ugliest fault lines in the music business, and it's broken up bands for decades. Explained from the perspective of someone who's spent 50 years as a working musician. If the part everybody remembers is his, how is the song not partly his too? 🔔 Subscribe for more real stories behind the music — told by someone who's actually lived it. #ThePolice #AndySummers #Sting #EveryBreathYouTake #ClassicRock #MusicBusiness