Hello, everyone, and thank you for your efforts in the Truth in Music movement. Our bill will soon be law in 33 states, and the federal bill is on the immediate horizon. Our bill is now on the Governor's desk in both New Hampshire, which could not have been done without Lynda Tocci and Paul Pezzella, which completes the entire northeast, and North Carolina, which recently had what is in our opinion three impostor group shows polluting its concert calendar. Thus the total of 33, this session having also added Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Oklahoma. I'd like to thank Rep. Greg Hughes of Utah, Sen. Karen Keiser of Washington, Sen. Floyd Prozanski of Oregon, Rep. Mike Thompson of Oklahoma, Sen. Jackie Cilley and Rep. Bob Perry of New Hampshire, and Sen. David Weinstein of North Carolina for sponsoring our bill and shepherding its passage. Thanks also to their able aides and other invaluable personnel in these states-- especially John Elder in Washington, Val Hoyle and Juliana Greenlaw in Oregon, A.J. Mallory in Oklahoma, Will Craig, Patrick Murphy, Majority Leader Maggie Hassan and Senate President Sylvia Larsen in New Hampshire, and Amy Fulk and Will Quick in North Carolina. Most special thanks to my friend Ty McCartney of Utah, who, along with the beloved Elaine Makas of Maine, is individually responsible for helping us find a record number of sponsors!
Other major news is last week's opinion of the Third Circuit in Marshak v. Treadwell, which upholds contempt of court judgements against those responsible for many of the impostor Drifters groups, and reverses the District Court in once again requiring an accounting of the profits from their impostor group performances. This will damage these perpetrators of some of the most egregious impostor group scams where it hurts them the most-- in the pocketbook! Many of these same players have also been enjoined from misusing the name "The Temptations" and held in contempt of federal court in the Ninth Circuit. Congratulations to Cindy Salvo for her outstanding legal work in Marshak v. Treadwell.
In the midst of this long legal battle, where it's easy to forget in all the minutiae what brought us here in the first place, I was gratified when Judge Fuentes of the Third Circuit reminded us of the special place of music in our collective consciousness. In the first paragraph of his opinion in Marshak v. Treadwell, Judge Fuentes wrote (of the underlying case):
"Judge Politan enjoined Marshak and his company from marketing The Drifters anywhere – not On Broadway, not Up On the Roof, and not Under the Boardwalk."
I couldn't have said it better myself! It's been a great 2009 so far!!!
TRUTH IN MUSIC BILL ADVANCES
Dear Friends,
Here is a long overdue update on the excellent progress of the Truth in Music movement.
Perhaps the biggest news of all is the State of New Jersey’s huge win in the Third Circuit case, Singer Management v. Milgram. Some of the major promoters of what we believe to be impostor groups had sued the New Jersey Attorney General for attempting to enforce the state’s Truth in Music Law. Their main allegation was that the law was unconstitutional. Last week, Judge Dickinson Debevoise granted the State’s motion to have the case dismissed, thereby upholding the constitutionality of Truth in Music and insuring that we will not have to amend our language in any of the states we’ve passed. This also untied the hands of the NJ AG’s office and allowed them to take further action to enforce the law in the future. An upcoming show at the Atlantic City Hilton featuring what we believe to be impostor groups has been abruptly cancelled by either the hotel or the promoters!
There has been a bit of confusion about this court decision, created by a rather poorly researched article in the New Jersey Law Journal. This article completely misinterpreted Judge Debevoise’s opinion and in fact confused the impostor groups with the authentic artists. I’ve even had a couple of people contact me about the “major setback” they heard we had suffered, which was actually a major victory.
To clear up this confusion, I contacted the Editor-In-Chief of the NJ Law Journal, who was ultimately quite apologetic about the Journal’s misinterpretation of the opinion. He invited me to write a Letter To The Editor and promised to print it. It appears in this week’s edition of the New Journal Law Journal, and I reprint it here for all of you:
Dear Editor:
Respectfully, The Journal article about impostor musical groups, “Suit By Heirs to 1950s Musical Groups Moot as NJ Regulators Change Tune” is misleading from the headline on down. The proper headline would be: “Federal Court Grants NJ AG’s Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Challenging Truth in Music Statutes.”
This was entirely a win for the “regulators,” for the authentic artists who are inductees of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and (especially) for the concert-going public which deserves better than to be duped by impostors. In our opinion, the plaintiffs in this lawsuit have never legally established themselves to be the “Heirs” to any “1950’s Musical Groups” and the Truth in Music Law we have championed in over 30 states is precisely designed to force groups like these, with dubious legal provenance, to put their cards on the table in court and prove their rights. Indeed, the “Elsbeary Hobbs Drifters,”whose claims you repeat and therefore give credence in the longer Law.Com piece, have already been disposed of in two published opinions (see Marshak v. Treadwell (1999, DC NJ) 58F. Supp.2d 551, affd. (2001, 3d Cir.) 240 F.3d 184). What’s more, in 2007, the principals and affiliates of plaintiffs in the current case were found to be in willful contempt of that permanent injunction by the same Judge Debevoise who dismissed the current case!
More thorough research and analysis on your part might have revealed this (as well as the same plaintiffs' injunction and contempt citation by Judge Feess in the Ninth Circuit with regard to their misuse of the name "The Temptations.") Judge Debevoise’s assessment in his 2007 contempt opinion was that the plaintiffs were carrying on an “elaborate shell game,” which perhaps continued with the apparently meritless current lawsuit. In any case, the current decision concludes that the Truth in Music Law is constitutional as written, that it is consistent and can co-exist with the Lanham Act, and that this is no longer a Federal issue. The decision dismisses plaintiff's suit with prejudice, and the AG's supplemental jurisdiction counterclaim without prejudice, thereby authorizing the Attorney General’s office to proceed with investigation and prosecution of impostor groups under NJ's Truth in Music Law.
Just to make it a clean sweep, the plaintiffs also lost their concurrent motion for attorneys fees.
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman
Chair, Truth in Music Committee
Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation
And so, as Singer Management v. Milgram passes into history, our movement goes forward to pass the Truth in Music Law in more states. Now that the constitutionality of the Law has been upheld, we will begin the federal effort as well. This will be a good public relations vehicle to educate the public if nothing else. We’ve always been certain that the most effective enforcement will come at the state, not the federal, level.
Despite the dramatic downturn in the economy and consequent shortness of funds, we have several states in progress in the 2009 legislative session. We have already been signed into law in Utah and Washington and Oklahoma and our current state total is 30!
New Hampshire should be completed soon, and Kansas, Oregon and North Carolina are in progress. Georgia passed one chamber and will complete next year in its two-year session, as will New Mexico and Arkansas. And we are close to sponsorship in Louisiana, which has a very late session that is just beginning. I hope to have passed all 50 states by 2011, 2012 at the latest.
In other enforcement news, we still await the results of an investigation and a projected hearing at the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division with regard to a show at the Sahara Hotel.
This would potentially impact the names “Cornell Gunther’s Coasters”, “The Platters” and “The Marvelettes”. The Governor of the state of Nevada has now called for the dismantling of the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division, which has obviously impacted their investigation.
We have no idea what will happen there, but trust of course that the state of Nevada will ultimately enforce its consumer laws in the proper fashion. Many fans in Nevada are very concerned about the lineage of the groups at the Sahara.
On the whole, it’s clear that the Truth in Music movement has had substantial impact on solving the impostor group problem. Venues and even agents are doing much better due diligence as to whom they hire and promote. Even some of the most hardened and greedy agents are now hawking “Tribute” shows instead of pretending they’re selling the real thing. We estimate that the impostor group business is down about 90% since the beginning of our effort.
Please continue to alert us to any dubious shows that come to your attention, and I promise to keep you updated in a more timely fashion. This volunteer work is a daunting task in a down economy when one is trying to maintain one’s own business, but it’s well worth it!
Also, if you can think of ways to help The Vocal Group Hall of Fame itself with its efforts to annex or relocate, please contact Bob Crosby at Crosby@vocalgroup.org
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman Chair,
Truth in Music Committee
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
MSNBC.com
Truth and Doo-Wop
Can't tell a fake from the original? How one man's campaign against musical
impostors might help.
By Jerry Adler
June 4, 2007 issue - Let us consider two great experiences of Western culture.
One is viewing "Girl With a Pearl Earring," by the 17th-century Dutch master
Johannes Vermeer,
which hangs in a museum in The Hague. The other is a
performance of "Up on the Roof" by the
20th-century R&B group the Drifters.
For that, you have many choices, including Bill Pinkney's Original Drifters and
Charlie Thomas's Drifters, various "cover" bands (which do their own versions
of classic hits), "tribute" bands
(which mimic the original performances
down to the white shoes) and a shadowy category of groups that perform under the original
names and may
benefit from the audience's assumption that at least one of the
elderly gentlemen on stage once
crooned the
selfsame lyrics on "The Ed Sullivan
Show." Fate decreed there would be only one Vermeer, but many
Drifters—and Coasters and Platters and other
rock groups from the era before MTV. "How many?" asks
Jon Bauman rhetorically."As many as you can pay for.
On New Year's Eve, one in every city."
Bauman is better known as "Bowzer,"
the T-shirted lunk from Sha Na Na
(the band in "Grease").
Now 59, he runs his own oldies shows and heads the
Truth in Music committee of
the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, crisscrossing the country at his own expense promoting
laws to penalize bands
who falsely advertise
a connection
to an earlier group.
Nine states now have such laws—New Jersey was the most recent—and bills are awaiting
signatures in seven more.
Impostors are "a form of identity theft," he says, "against artists whose music changed the world.
I look on this as an extension of the civil-rights movement."
To the dwindling cadre of doo-wop pioneers who can still snap their fingers without wincing, Bauman is a hero."Jon is a dedicated soul," says Herb Reed of the first group to call itself the Platters.
More than a half-century later Reed still
sings bass as part of a group descended from the original Platters
by a genealogy only slightly less convoluted than the
Plantagenets'. "Those impostor groups are destroying
the market for me," he says, competing for bookings by cutting
their prices, so that in his late 70s he's down
to a mere 180 dates a year.
But supporters of the Truth in Music bills are also positioning it as a consumer issue,
appealing to a quirk of human nature
that prizes authenticity above phenomenology. "Consumers are being confused," says Maxine Porter, manager of Bill Pinkney's
Original Drifters. "There's a history, a specific identity with a name, and all that is part of the consumer's decision-making process. " Economists struggle to understand this phenomenon.
"Even well-established art experts are at a loss to explain why a (perfect) copy is considered so much less valuable than the
original," Bruno S. Frey of the University of Zurich wrote in a 1999 paper. To return to Vermeer for a moment, most people will
never see the original "Girl With a Pearl Earring," but last week a new Vermeer museum opened in Delft containing only reproductions. Or if you'd like a
hand-painted copy on stretched canvas to "impress your friends," you can buy one online for as little as $155, compared with
$100 million for the original. You could probably tell them apart, especially if you chose to supersize your copy—the original is
just 16 by 18 inches, but you can have copies in sizes up to three feet by four feet. But would you be confident in your ability
to know which was the Vermeer? And if not, then does it matter?
For that matter, how many casual R&B fans could pick out an original member of the Coasters from a distance?
(That's a trick question; the last surviving original member, Carl Gardner, retired from touring recently after a stroke.)
Early R&B groups were mostly faceless voices on the radio, in part because record companies weren't eager to remind
audiences that their faces were usually black. And yet, in doo-wop as in painting, an undeniable aura clings to the authentic,
the genuine, the original. Which is why if you go to a concert by the faux Drifters or a performance by the Platters manqué,
you will always see, says Bauman, one guy in his 70s there so that you, the discerning doo-wop consumer, can nudge your
seatmate and say, "That's the real one!"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18881824/site/newsweek/
MSN Privacy . Legal
© 2007 MSNBC.com
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/22/ap4043495.html
Associated Press
NY Law Targets Band Impersonators
By MICHAEL VIRTANEN 08.22.07, 9:20 AM ET ALBANY, N.Y.
Knockoff music acts that impersonate the real performers
can face fines up to $15,000
under a new law in New York.
"Music artists work for years to
build names for themselves in the entertainment industry," Gov. Eliot Spitzer said Tuesday
after signing the amendments to the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. "We should not allow others to impersonate their work
and profit from that deception."
Called the "Truth in Music
Advertising Law," it prohibits
copycat performances that
attempt to cash in through false
and
misleading representations
like names, billings and
promotions similar to the
original artists. nforcement by
the state
attorney general's
office can bring civil
penalties ranging from
$5,000 to $15,000.
The measure was inspired when
well-known recording artists like
the Platters, the Coasters and the Drifters suffered
financial losses
when their acts and routines
were copied without permission, according to the governor's office.
The Drifters, a doo-wop vocal group, first formed in the 1950s at Atlantic Records, had a string of '60s hits
like "This Magic Moment" and "Under the Boardwalk," and an
array of members through
decades of recording and
performing. Several early
members are dead.
The legislation has been dubbed
the "Bowzer Bill" for Jon "Bowzer" Bauman of the band Sha Na Na
who has lobbied lawmakers in
Albany and other state capitals.
He says that while there are
Drifters, Coasters and
Platters
performing with an authentic recording member of the
band, there are many
others with none.
"There are some groups that have been really very heavily damaged
by this, for the most part the
groups that had
the most hit
records from the doo-wop era," Bauman said. "Unscrupulous people have abused those names and they
are putting out multiple impostor groups under those names.
We don't even know how
many there are."
The law requires performing groups to have at least one member of the recording group that they claim a connection
to and a legal right to
use the name. Or else they must label the production a "tribute" or "salute" or else own the
recording group's trademark or have
its authorization.
Sen. John Flanagan, a Long Island Republican who sponsored the bill, said that while some old hits
endure, the law should protect
both the band's reputation and
concertgoers from fraud. "Fans want to see the groups
they love and should get what they pay for," said Assemblyman
Peter Rivera, a Bronx Democrat
and another sponsor.
Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, South Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia, New Jersey,
Florida, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Missouri, Texas and Nevada have enacted similar laws, according to the
Truth in Music Committee
of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation.
California and a
few other states are expected to follow shortly,
said foundation
President Bob Crosby.
"A lot of these groups have
spent their life savings chasing
the predators in litigation.
It's been really tough because there's
always another gig and the gigs happen faster than the litigation," Crosby said. "No one is in favor of fake groups except
for the impostors.
It's a form of identity theft."
The next step is enforcement, Bauman said. There are ongoing actions in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with one coming
soon in Nevada, he said. Attorney William Charron, representing Singer
Management and Live Gold Operations, obtained
a temporary restraining order Friday in a New Jersey federal court to block the attorney general from interfering with a
show at the Atlantic City
Hilton by their groups the Elsberry Hobbs Drifters, the Cornell Gunter Coasters and the Platters,
he said. They're scheduled to return
to court Sept. 7, seeking a
preliminary injunction.
"The arguments were constitutional, that our clients have valid
licenses to these trademarks," Charron said. He said the
law "has the potential for misuse.
That's where our clients find themselves unfortunately caught. They deserve to have
their
names cleared," he said.
Mar. 02, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Not so great pretenders
Originals support 'Truth in Music'
By SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
Mary Wilson, left, an original member of the Supremes, and Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, former leader of Sha Na Na, testify on Thursday.
Photo by Gary Thompson.
Sonny Turner, right, of the original Platters singing group, testifies from Las Vegas during a teleconference meeting Thursday of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor in Carson City.
Photo by Gary Thompson.
|
CARSON CITY -- Bowzer broke into song before a Senate panel on Thursday.
Jon Bauman, better known as the former leader of the oldies group Sha Na Na, testified in
support of a bill that would make it a deceptive trade practice for musical groups with no
original members to pass themselves off as the Coasters, Drifters, Platters or others.
"Get a job," Bauman intoned, quoting the 1950s Silhouettes hit.
"For too many years, these impostor musical groups have been duping consumers out of
their
hard-earned entertainment dollars and cheating the pioneers of rock music out of their rightful legacy," Bauman told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
Bauman was joined by Mary Wilson, an original member of the Supremes, and Sonny Turner,
an original member of the Platters, who testified from Las Vegas, in supporting Senate Bill 53,
dubbed the "Truth in Music" bill.
Wilson told lawmakers that at least five groups are performing as the Supremes. Breaking into song,
Wilson said she tells those groups: "Stop! In the name of love, before you break my heart."
The bill is intended to protect both consumers, who may not know they are buying tickets to
a fake group's performance, and artists who only have their legacy as performers to rely on
to make a living, Wilson said.
Turner continued the musical testimony in the hearing. "Only you, can pass this bill for us,"
he sang to the melody of the Platters' hit "Only You."
The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee passed the bill out with a few minor amendments,
including one making it clear that venues that offer such acts, including hotel-casinos, are not
responsible for any bogus act. The bill will have to pass both houses and be signed by the
governor before it becomes law.
Commerce Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said the bill would become effective upon
passage and approval, to provide protection to the performers as quickly as possible.
Bauman, who is chairman of the Truth in Music Committee of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, said he is pleased with support
for the bill that the group has received from Nevada's casino industry.
"We're completely on the same page," Bauman said. "We're not interested in acting as if the venues are culpable here.
Because we feel that they are not."
The bill was introduced by Sens. Joe Heck, R-Henderson, and Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, on behalf of some Las Vegas
performers, including Wilson.
Bauman told the panel that the Truth in Music Committee has succeeded in passing similar legislation in nine other states
and is seeking approval in 12 more, including Nevada.
The bill would prohibit a group from calling itself the Drifters, for example, unless one original member of the group is part
of the performance. Exceptions would be made for groups clearly identifying themselves as a "tribute" band. Individuals
holding rights to a group name also would be exempted from the provisions of the bill.
Civil fines of $5,000 to $10,000, for violating a court order, could be assessed against promoters or groups failing to
follow the provisions of the law.
The attorney general's office had reviewed the bill and didn't foresee any additional costs associated with enforcing the
proposed law because the office already has a deceptive trade practices unit.
Bauman said the legislation has reduced or eliminated imposter groups in other states. It has succeeded by placing the
burden of proof on the imposter groups to show they can legitimately use a name, he said.
It has been effective because it allows an attorney general to stop a performance before it occurs to ensure there is a
legitimate right to the group name, Bauman said.
He described the phony groups as a form of identity theft.
Wilson, a Las Vegas resident, said she has spent millions of dollars trying unsuccessfully to prosecute fake Supremes
groups. Wilson, who does not own the Supremes name, tours as Mary Wilson or "Mary Wilson formerly of the Supremes."
Bauman said performers are backing the legislation because they have to compete for jobs against fake groups that
may charge $5,000 for a performance, while a group including original members might charge $20,000.
Wilson said there are more serious issues the Legislature needs to deal with, from homelessness to care for the elderly,
but the bill is important for performers.
"It is helping Americans who have given music to the world," Wilson said.
Also testifying from Las Vegas was 1950s music fan Donald Riggio, who said he knows which groups have a legitimate
claim to a group name and which are fakes because of his love of the music.
"I take it as a personal insult to my intelligence to have these fakers heaped upon me and the other members of the
sometimes unsuspecting audience without calling them what they are -- a tribute band or review," Riggio said.
No one spoke in opposition to the measure.
Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, said he was embarrassed that Nevada has not been at the forefront in protecting the
artists affected by imposter groups.
But Bauman said the effort to pass the law in Nevada was intentionally delayed until the organization could see how
well the measure worked elsewhere.
Nevada is an important state for such a law because of its prominence as an entertainment capital, he said.
"Existing law has proven to be completely ineffective in stopping the practice," Bauman said. "This is a grey area.
These people have learned how to work within existing law."
Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman
(Chairman, Truth in Music Committee)
addresses the
audience at
the
2004 Vocal Group Hall of Fame
Induction Concert about the
'Truth In Music Bill'.
The bill was created in order to protect artists from identity theft
and consumers
from imposter groups that illegally use the name of legendary groups
and artists.
For more information about
Truth In Music watch the video!
Truth In Music Video
below links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2FbA1O-Wl4
Truth In Music Legislation State By State Truth in Music has had an incredible legislative session which is not quite over. We are now law in 15 states-- New Jersey, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, Maine, Wisconsin, South Carolina, North Dakota and Texas. The bill is on the Governor's desk in Missouri. New York and California have passed one chamber and should finish up shortly.
CA- assembly bill 702 passed assembly
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/
ab_07010750/ab_702_bill_20070222_introduced.html
Colorado truth in music
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/
20080208/NEWS/915418559
CT- law
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/ACT/PA/
2006PA-00016-R00HB-05801-PA.htm
DE- Senate Bill #45
http://www.legis.state.de.us/LIS/LIS144.NSF/
vwLegislation/SB+45?Opendocument
FL- law
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/data/session/2001/
House/bills/billtext/pdf/h1049.pdf
IL – law
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?
DocName=09400HB4172lv&SessionID=50&GA=94&
DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=4172&print=true
HB 4172 Public Act 094-0854
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/
publicacts/94/094-0854.htm
MA- law
ME – law
http://www.mainelegislature.org/
legis/bills/billtexts/ld068601.asp
MI –
Senate Bill 1125
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/
(S(krwqfzndmgquji555sqgk2vu))
/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectName
=2006-SB-1125
MO – law
ND – law = Existing Law to be Amended
Fifty-ninth
Legislative Assembly ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL NO. 1284 ND- PASSED,
MUST BE AMENDED
http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/
59-2005/bill-text/FATH0400.pdf
NJ – law
[Second Reprint]
ASSEMBLY, No. 3102
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
212th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED MAY 18, 2006
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/
Bills/A3500/3102_R2.HTM
SENATE, No. 310
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
212th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2006 SESSION
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2006/
Bills/S0500/310_I1.HTM
NM - HOUSE BILL 857
48TH LEGISLATURE -
STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 2007
INTRODUCED BY
Jane E. Powdrell-Culbert
http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/_session.asp?
chamber=H&type=++&number=857&
Submit=Search&year=07
NV – law
SENATE BILL NO. 53
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Bills/
Amendments/A_SB53_R1_917.PDF - xml=http://search.leg.state.nv.us/isysqu
NY –
http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A05822&sh=t
OH- SET TO BE INTRODUCED
PA – law
SENATE BILL No. 929 Session of 2005
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/
Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=PDF&sessYr=2005&sessInd
=0&billBody=S&billTyp=B&billNbr=0929&pn=1218
SC – law
H.3636 H.4105 Rep. G.M. Smith May 2, 2007 SC- PASSED, MUST BE AMENDED
TN – law
HB 228
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/
currentga/BILL/HB0228.pdf
TX – law
HB 54
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R
/billtext/html/HB00054I.htm
VA – law
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+HB1969E+pdf
WI - law
TruthInMusic.org
Bowzer's Rock 'n Roll Party
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Governor Signs Truth In Music
State of Connecticut Official Website
Governor Signs Truth In Music
State of Illinois Official Website
Governor Signs Truth In Music
State of New Jersey Official Website
Truth In Music Bill Passes
Assembly
State of Delaware Official Website
Truth In Music Bill Passes Senate
State of Michigan Official Website
Truth In Music Bill Passes Senate
State of Massachusetts Official Website
Truth In Music Bill Passes
Senate
State of South Carolina Official Website
Existing Laws To Be Amended
State of North Dakota Official Website
Existing Laws To Be Amended
Must see
click
click on images
Fake Doo Wop
Thank You - 20/20 ABC News.com
"Truth In Music" segment
MSNBC.com
Jon (BOWZER)
Bauman
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
TRUTH IN MUSIC
Committee Chairman
"Truth
In Music"
Has Arrived!
The Truth In Music Bill was
created to protect the artists
from Identity theft and to
protect the Consumer from
being
mis-lead to believe
they are seeing the legendary
artists that made the
hits
songs famous,
when in
fact
they are not.
The Truth in Music Law
is designed to stop unscrupulous
concert promoters from deceiving
the public with “impostor groups”
which have no connection,
legal or otherwise,
to the
authentic groups.
Fundamentally, this is a
Consumer Protection Bill,
as the public pays hard-earned
money to see a show and has
no idea
what it’s even getting.
The bill makes it mandatory
for a live performance to
include
at least one recording
member of the group who still
has the right to use the group
name or Trademark.
Otherwise, the act
must be billed as a “tribute”
or a “salute” so that the
public knows what
it’s paying for.
An ancillary effect of this
bill is to help the authentic
artists themselves, who have
been struggling for many years
to try to stop impostors to no
avail. The impostor groups
take their jobs, their money,
their legacy and their applause.
The bill is necessary because
existing law has completely
failed
to work and impostor
groups have multiplied. There
may be as many groups
of “Coasters” and “Platters”
performed nationwide,
often
at the same time in
different venues.
The bill
shifts the burden to those
groups to prove that they
actually have rights to
the
group names.
The specific guidelines the bill provides give clarity to venues
as to whom to book, and to
the state attorney general’s
office as to what constitutes
a violation. This is much more
efficient and cost-effective
than any other way of dealing
with this very specialized area.
Truth In Music Bill Law in 33 States
California, Connecticut,
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey,
North Dakota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Road Island, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah,
Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and fully sponsored in
Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi & New Mexico.
The Federal Bill is fully sponsored and to be introduced in the Fall of 2009.
Progress for 2010 underway in Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Iowa, West Virginia, Wyoming, & Washington DC.
IMPORTANT
UPDATE
July 4, 2009
Hello, everyone, and thank you for your efforts in the Truth in Music movement. Our bill will soon be law in 33 states, and the federal bill is on the immediate horizon. Our bill is now on the Governor's desk in both New Hampshire, which could not have been done without Lynda Tocci and Paul Pezzella, which completes the entire northeast, and North Carolina, which recently had what is in our opinion three impostor group shows polluting its concert calendar. Thus the total of 33, this session having also added Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Oklahoma. I'd like to thank Rep. Greg Hughes of Utah, Sen. Karen Keiser of Washington, Sen. Floyd Prozanski of Oregon, Rep. Mike Thompson of Oklahoma, Sen. Jackie Cilley and Rep. Bob Perry of New Hampshire, and Sen. David Weinstein of North Carolina for sponsoring our bill and shepherding its passage. Thanks also to their able aides and other invaluable personnel in these states-- especially John Elder in Washington, Val Hoyle and Juliana Greenlaw in Oregon, A.J. Mallory in Oklahoma, Will Craig, Patrick Murphy, Majority Leader Maggie Hassan and Senate President Sylvia Larsen in New Hampshire, and Amy Fulk and Will Quick in North Carolina. Most special thanks to my friend Ty McCartney of Utah, who, along with the beloved Elaine Makas of Maine, is individually responsible for helping us find a record number of sponsors!
Other major news is last week's opinion of the Third Circuit in Marshak v. Treadwell, which upholds contempt of court judgements against those responsible for many of the impostor Drifters groups, and reverses the District Court in once again requiring an accounting of the profits from their impostor group performances. This will damage these perpetrators of some of the most egregious impostor group scams where it hurts them the most-- in the pocketbook! Many of these same players have also been enjoined from misusing the name "The Temptations" and held in contempt of federal court in the Ninth Circuit. Congratulations to Cindy Salvo for her outstanding legal work in Marshak v. Treadwell.
In the midst of this long legal battle, where it's easy to forget in all the minutiae what brought us here in the first place, I was gratified when Judge Fuentes of
the Third Circuit reminded us of
the special place of music in our collective consciousness. In the first paragraph of his opinion in Marshak v. Treadwell, Judge Fuentes wrote (of the underlying case)
"Judge Politan enjoined Marshak and his company from marketing The Drifters anywhere – not On Broadway, not Up On the Roof, and not Under the Boardwalk."
I couldn't have said it better myself! It's been a great 2009 so far!!!
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman
Chair, Truth in Music Committee
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
