CA Considers Law to Protect Band Names

Every night in Las Vegas, Baby Boomers plunk down $47.30 each and file into the Sahara Hotel & Casino's Congo Room to revisit the sounds of their youth. They've come to spend an evening with 'The Platters, Drifters, Coasters.' 'Sit back for an unforgettable evening of classic R&B by three of the greatest internationally renowned vocal groups of all time ' all on one stage!' the resort's Web site chirps.

There's a Problem

It's a performance steeped in nostalgia, save one element: None of the artists on stage were ever members of the musical groups that most remember as the Platters, the Coasters or the Drifters. They may sing the classics of early rock 'n' roll, soul and rhythm and blues, but critics say these acts are imposters. And they want these shows, and dozens of others like them around the country, stopped.

A committee of music veterans led by former Sha Na Na frontman Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman is co-sponsoring legislation in California that would outlaw live performances by these not-so-authentic groups. The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists has signed on as a supporter. The bill, dubbed the Truth in Music Advertising Act, is before California Senate. If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the bill into law, California would join a dozen states already barring faux groups from performing ' and potentially stir up the existing hornet's nest of legal issues surrounding trademark ownership from the Golden Oldies era. It would also raise questions about enforcement for public prosecutors, who would be authorized to punish the fakes.

California Assembly Bill 702 sailed through the Assembly without opposition. That's not surprising, said Bob Crosby, president and CEO of the nonprofit Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the umbrella organization for Bauman's committee. 'No one can really lobby for fake groups,' he said. 'When these guys stand on stage and say 'When we recorded this song in the '50s,' 'When we won our Grammy,' 'When we sang on the street corner,' and they're 22 years old? Come on, they're lying.'

And it's no harmless illusion, either, he said. 'All these fake groups are out there stealing incomes, history and applause,' Crosby said.

Who Holds the Rights?

It's not always easy to tell who holds the rights to a particular musical group's name or to identify an authentic member of an act formed 50 years ago. Singers then were often recruited by managers or producers who did not afford young vocalists, often poor African-Americans, the legal protections more commonly available today. Members came and went before the visibility that, in the MTV era, cemented band members' identities with a group. Trademarks were sold, sometimes under less than legal conditions. Squabbles and lawsuits over group names continue.

'There are all kinds of weird things that happen in the music world,' said Anthony Berman, the founder of Berman Entertainment and Technology Law in San Francisco, which is not affiliated with the bill. 'There are permutations and changes in membership.'

The act at the Sahara in Las Vegas, for instance, notes in small print that it's 'Beary Hobb's' Drifters and 'Cornell Gunter's' Coasters who are performing, even though both men, while once members of early compilations of those groups, have been dead for more than a decade. 'How can you say they're the Coasters or the Drifters?' Crosby asked. 'You can't buy history.'

Some promoters have seized on early pop groups' sometimes cloudy history and offer acts billed as the Platters, or the Supremes or other Motown legends, even if they have a nebulous or even no connection to the originals. Those groups will often play for a fraction of what the real members charge, hurting some aging originals' chances to earn a living, critics charge. 'There have been shows up and down California,' Crosby said. 'They'll play smaller nightclubs, venues that can't afford the big acts.'

Mary Wilson, a former member of the Supremes, has reportedly said that she's spent millions of dollars trying to stop knock-off performers in federal court with little success. 'We're dealing with issues of identity, and identities are not protectable under many existing laws,' Berman said.

What the Bill Provides

California's version of the Truth in Music Advertising Act would provide for civil damages of $2500 for each violation and would authorize the attorney general, county counsel and district attorneys to seek injunctions under the state's Business and Professions Code Sec. 17200. It would exempt so-called tribute bands, as well as groups with at least one original member who has a legal right to use the group's name or those performing under a valid trademark.

Bill supporters concede that it's difficult to see California Attorney General Jerry Brown rushing to the courthouse to block a wannabe Platters group from performing. Crosby couldn't cite an instance where another state's attorney general has filed suit under a new Truth in Music law to stop a concert. But he and Bauman say laws passed in other states have persuaded venues not to book these acts. 'There seems to be a kind of chase going on where more of these imposter groups are popping up in states that don't have these laws yet,' he said.

Cheryl Miller is a staff writer for The Recorder, a sister publication of Entertainment Law & Finance.

Every night in Las Vegas, Baby Boomers plunk down $47.30 each and file into the Sahara Hotel & Casino's Congo Room to revisit the sounds of their youth. They've come to spend an evening with 'The Platters, Drifters, Coasters.' 'Sit back for an unforgettable evening of classic R&B by three of the greatest internationally renowned vocal groups of all time ' all on one stage!' the resort's Web site chirps.

There's a Problem

It's a performance steeped in nostalgia, save one element: None of the artists on stage were ever members of the musical groups that most remember as the Platters, the Coasters or the Drifters. They may sing the classics of early rock 'n' roll, soul and rhythm and blues, but critics say these acts are imposters. And they want these shows, and dozens of others like them around the country, stopped.

A committee of music veterans led by former Sha Na Na frontman Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman is co-sponsoring legislation in California that would outlaw live performances by these not-so-authentic groups. The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists has signed on as a supporter. The bill, dubbed the Truth in Music Advertising Act, is before California Senate. If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the bill into law, California would join a dozen states already barring faux groups from performing ' and potentially stir up the existing hornet's nest of legal issues surrounding trademark ownership from the Golden Oldies era. It would also raise questions about enforcement for public prosecutors, who would be authorized to punish the fakes.

California Assembly Bill 702 sailed through the Assembly without opposition. That's not surprising, said Bob Crosby, president and CEO of the nonprofit Vocal Group Hall of Fame, the umbrella organization for Bauman's committee. 'No one can really lobby for fake groups,' he said. 'When these guys stand on stage and say 'When we recorded this song in the '50s,' 'When we won our Grammy,' 'When we sang on the street corner,' and they're 22 years old? Come on, they're lying.'

And it's no harmless illusion, either, he said. 'All these fake groups are out there stealing incomes, history and applause,' Crosby said.

Who Holds the Rights?

It's not always easy to tell who holds the rights to a particular musical group's name or to identify an authentic member of an act formed 50 years ago. Singers then were often recruited by managers or producers who did not afford young vocalists, often poor African-Americans, the legal protections more commonly available today. Members came and went before the visibility that, in the MTV era, cemented band members' identities with a group. Trademarks were sold, sometimes under less than legal conditions. Squabbles and lawsuits over group names continue.

'There are all kinds of weird things that happen in the music world,' said Anthony Berman, the founder of Berman Entertainment and Technology Law in San Francisco, which is not affiliated with the bill. 'There are permutations and changes in membership.'

The act at the Sahara in Las Vegas, for instance, notes in small print that it's 'Beary Hobb's' Drifters and 'Cornell Gunter's' Coasters who are performing, even though both men, while once members of early compilations of those groups, have been dead for more than a decade. 'How can you say they're the Coasters or the Drifters?' Crosby asked. 'You can't buy history.'

Some promoters have seized on early pop groups' sometimes cloudy history and offer acts billed as the Platters, or the Supremes or other Motown legends, even if they have a nebulous or even no connection to the originals. Those groups will often play for a fraction of what the real members charge, hurting some aging originals' chances to earn a living, critics charge. 'There have been shows up and down California,' Crosby said. 'They'll play smaller nightclubs, venues that can't afford the big acts.'

Mary Wilson, a former member of the Supremes, has reportedly said that she's spent millions of dollars trying to stop knock-off performers in federal court with little success. 'We're dealing with issues of identity, and identities are not protectable under many existing laws,' Berman said.

What the Bill Provides

California's version of the Truth in Music Advertising Act would provide for civil damages of $2500 for each violation and would authorize the attorney general, county counsel and district attorneys to seek injunctions under the state's Business and Professions Code Sec. 17200. It would exempt so-called tribute bands, as well as groups with at least one original member who has a legal right to use the group's name or those performing under a valid trademark.

Bill supporters concede that it's difficult to see California Attorney General Jerry Brown rushing to the courthouse to block a wannabe Platters group from performing. Crosby couldn't cite an instance where another state's attorney general has filed suit under a new Truth in Music law to stop a concert. But he and Bauman say laws passed in other states have persuaded venues not to book these acts. 'There seems to be a kind of chase going on where more of these imposter groups are popping up in states that don't have these laws yet,' he said.

Cheryl Miller is a staff writer for The Recorder, a sister publication of Entertainment Law & Finance.