Musical Acts in Vegas

Nevada finally passed SB053 that provides that musical acts must:

• have at least one member of the recording group to which they claim a connection;
• label their band a "tribute" or "salute";
• own the trademark to the name of the musical act; or
• have permission from the original recording group.

Failure to satisfy these conditions would constitute a deceptive trade or business practice in the state. With all the musical acts that perform in Las Vegas and other casino-tourist spots in the state, it will certainly help the consumer to make sure they are seeing something close to the original.

One issue I have with the legislation is that it doesn't solve problems like the Klymaxx issue. If you recall, Cheryl Cooley has been trying to tour with a band name Klymaxx or the New Klymaxx Band, where Bernadette Cooper, Lorena Stewart, Lynn Malsby and Joyce Irby (the other original members of Klymaxx) has been using their name. Because there is no currently active trademark on file, Cheryl would technically be allowed to perform as Klymaxx. That is like Paul Peterson touring as The Time or Dick Taylor as the Rolling Stones. Imagine going to Vegas and finding out that Klymaxx is performing at five different hotels simultaneously!

Yes, there is technical compliance with the statute if the multiple performance scenario would happen, but the consumer is still at a major disadvantage thinking that there is some substantial link with the original group where the tickets being bought are really for a small part of the original act. I would like to see this legislation, and others like it across the country, beefed up a little and provide either a more substantial connection to the recording group or enhanced disclosures of the constituancy of the band.

I guess this is just a good lesson for musical acts to learn to file trademarks up front and handle dissolution proceedings at the end better.