David Farrier

We got a couple of really good responses.

This anonymous person wrote in, quick 101 on the legal questions you had with the obligatory disclaimer.

This is not legal advice, just general information.

There are three different types of IP at play here.

And this is why tribute bands probably aren't getting sued all the time.

Number one, rights of publicity.

These are individual rights and vary state by state without getting into the weeds.

Elvis tribute artists are a good case study.

Tennessee has one of the strongest laws and Elvis Presley Enterprises tightly controls who can use Elvis's likeness.

As you can imagine, individual band members may be less likely to have a claim depending on their applicable state law and their personal level of fame.

Number two, trademark.

If a tribute band isn't using the band's trademark at all,

If they're using them in a way that will not confuse people into thinking they're the real band, it's probably okay.

That's why tribute bands have weird different names.

And copyright.

When someone plays a cover song live, the only royalty they owe is the songwriter publishing royalty for publishing performances.

Usually venues are paying blanket licenses that cover this royalty so the cover tribute bands doesn't have to worry about it.

So yeah, I thought that was that kind of answer to that question.

Totally.

Last one.