Pop prog-rock band Supertramp sold 30 million copies of its 1979 album Breakfast in America. Up to that time, despite previously releasing other best-selling albums, the music group still owed recoupable funding money to A&M Records, to which the band was signed.
How To Determine Duration of Royalty Contract That Doesn’t Contain Specific End Date
In 1997, Supertramp members Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, the band’s main songwriters, agreed to share their songwriting and publishing income with the group’s three other members — John Helliwell, Robert Siebenberg and Douglas Thomson — and their personal manager David Margereson. But there was one key point missing in the participation memorandum: The agreement didn’t state how long it would remain in effect. It wasn’t until August 2025 that the issue was decided, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
By
Stan Soocher
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