More on Tribute Bands

I recently wrote about a lawsuit involving a musical tribute to Marty Robbins (http://tripaldredgelaw.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-06-28T16%3A32%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7). My friend and client Dennis Scott notified me of an interesting law review article with an exhaustive overview of the topic of tribute bands : Brent Giles Davis "Identity Theft: tribute Bands, Grand Rights and Dramatico-Musical Performances" published in the Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal (2006-2007). While I think that some of the author's analysis may be a bit heavy handed he does explore all of the issues surrounding performances involving tribute bands from the perspective of copyright law, trademark law and rights of publicity and then delves into the murky area of grand rights and dramatico-musical performances. He also identifies the sub species of "reverence bands"--think of The Long Players or Dennis' own band The WannaBeatles- and "tribute bands"--think Mini- Kiss. I think this is essential reading for anyone advising tribute bands.