Robert M. Dow Jr.
Robert M. Dow Jr.

A battle over royalties launched by two founding members of the rock band Survivor does not belong in Illinois, a federal judge has ruled.

In a written opinion Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. dismissed a lawsuit that Frank M. Sullivan III and James Peterik filed against Sony Music Entertainment.

Dow held Sony does not have the kind of connection with Illinois needed to bring it under the jurisdiction of courts in this state.

The suit alleges Sony is breaching a recording agreement that entitles Survivor to royalties for the sale or use of certain songs.

Survivor entered into the agreement in 1978 with Scotti Brothers Records Inc., whose master recordings and catalogs ultimately were sold to Sony.

The suit alleges the agreement requires Sony to pay a 50 percent royalty on licenses for digital music downloads, digital music streaming and video streaming.

Sony, however, contends that the royalty rate for such licenses is the 5 percent to 10 percent rate set by the agreement on the sale of records and prerecorded tapes.

The suit also alleges other violations of the agreement.

In his opinion, Dow noted that Sullivan and Peterik filed the suit in federal court under diversity jurisdiction.

Sullivan lives in Palatine and Peterik lives in Burr Ridge.

Sony is a Delaware general partnership that is headquartered in New York. A general partner, Sony Music Holdings Inc. (SMHI), owns 98 percent of Sony.

Quoting Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations S.A. v. Brown, 131 S. Ct. 2846 (2011), Dow wrote that general jurisdiction over a defendant exists if the defendant’s contacts with a state are so continuous and systematic they make the defendant “essentially at home in the forum state.”

Like Sony, Dow wrote, SMHI is a Delaware corporation based in New York. SMHI has no employees in Illinois, and its distribution of products in the state have nothing to do with Sony’s business, he wrote.

And because Sullivan and Peterik’s claims are based on alleged violations of the recording agreement and not on the distribution of products, Dow wrote, the courts in Illinois also do not have specific jurisdiction over Sony.

He issued his opinion in Frank M. Sullivan III, et al. v. Sony Music Entertainment, No. 14 C 731.

A lawyer for the band’s founders, Annette M. McGarry of McGarry & McGarry LLC, said her clients have not yet decided their next move.

The founders also are represented by Marianne Craigmile Holzhall of the same firm.

Sony’s attorneys include Stephen Novack and Joshua E. Liebman, both of Novack and Macey LLP. They declined to comment.