Lawsuit over Supertramp music royalties lands in Tampa court

TAMPA, Fla. - Coming soon to a Tampa courtroom: Supertramp.

The aged rock band, who dazzled audiences and snagged two Grammys more than four decades ago and whose music continues to inspire generations of socially awkward people - among them the writer of this story - is at the center of a lawsuit filed last month over royalties that allegedly came up short.

Why was the case filed here? Roger Hodgson, the band's former front man and lead songwriter during their peak years, has evidently been having breakfast in America for some time. Specifically, according to the complaint, he lives somewhere in Hillsborough County.

Who knew?

The complaint landed in the court of Hillsborough Circuit Judge Cynthia Oster.

Court records, though, paint a murkier picture of his residency. A summons that made its way into the court file bears an address in Sarasota, where public records show Hodgson bought a home several years ago. Other public records indicate that Hodgson has for years resided in northern California.

Hodgson has yet to respond to the complaint. The California-based management company that represents him did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment.

The plaintiff is the estate of Rick Davies, the band's former pianist who died last year from cancer at 81. With Hodgson, Davies co-wrote some of Supertramp's biggest singles.

His widow, Susan Fallot Davies, claims she's got a bloody right to a greater share of the royalties than her late husband was paid.

Supertramp formed in England in 1969. They achieved popularity with the 1974 album "Crime of the Century" and shot into the pop music stratosphere with the 1979 release of"Breakfast in America." The latter album sold more than 18 million copies and produced a handful of what came to be classic rock staples, like the "Logical Song," "Goodbye Stranger" and "Take the Long Way Home."

Some of their biggest hits came on the combined songwriting talents of Hodgson and Davies. Hodgson left the band in 1984, marking the end of their peak stardom.

So it was that in the late 1980s, Davies and Hodgson made a legal declaration guaranteeing that they'd each receive a fair share for their contributions to the band's continued success.

Between 1988 and 2022, the complaint alleges, a performing rights organization that managed Supertramp's royalty payments incorrectly distributed funds that were owed to Hodgson and Davies for their respective share of international performance income.

The result, the complaint claims, is that Hodgson was consistently overpaid and Davies was underpaid.

The complaint indicates that the pair long ago signed an agreement that granted Davies a proportionate share varying from 67% to 73% of royalties for his songwriting credits.

In the 34-year period of the agreement, Davies received about $4.3 million, which is about 63% of the combined international writers' share, while Hodgson got about $2.7 million, or roughly 39%.

The agreement called for Davies to receive 72% and Hodgson to get 27%, according to the complaint. Thus, the lawsuit alleges, Davies was significantly underpaid.

The complaint accuses Hodgson of "unjust enrichment" and of having received a "windfall" of about 11% more than he should have gotten.

Hugh Rosenberg, the California entertainment lawyer who filed the case on behalf of Davies' estate, did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails seeking comment.

Attorneys who represented Hodgson in a similar lawsuit in California likewise did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls.

The California case, which was filed in federal court, was brought in 2021 by the rest of Supertramp, including the band's former bassist, saxophonist and drummer. They sued both Hodgson and Davies, alleging they'd stopped paying their royalties in 2018. They sought more than $1.3 million.

Davies later settled. The case against Hodgson went to trial.

Amid a deluge of litigation, Hodgson addressed the claims in a written declaration. He wrote that he was the principal author and composer for most of Supertramp's hits. He had little contact with the other band members since leaving the group in 1984.Although he and Davies had a couple of times discussed reforming the group, those plans never came to fruition, he wrote.

He wrote that he'd paid his ex-bandmates a portion of the royalties he'd earned, giving them each about $67,000 a year, before exercising his "right to terminate."

"I am told that Plaintiffs in this case have claimed that the royalty payments they seek ... is their '401k,'" Hodgson wrote. "This is not true, at all. All of the Plaintiffs are wealthy celebrities who continue to receive royalty income from many other sources. The royalty payments I shared are only part of the remuneration they continue to receive from their association with Supertramp."

He went on to detail various sources of income the ex-band members receive. He noted that they are all "well into their retirement years" or "on the cusp of their twilight years" and "living comfortable lives" long after Supertramp ended.

"And very few musicians who once picked up a guitar in their teens are fortunate enough to still be earning millions in their seventies," he wrote.

A jury in the California case sided with Hodgson, finding he could terminate their agreement "at will." But an appeals court reversed the case, finding there was continuing obligation to share the royalties as long as they continue to exist.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 7:06 AM.