Truth in Music Advertising
The Truth in Music Advertising act or bill, also known as Truth in Music Performance Advertising or simply Truth in Music, is legislation, adopted into state law by most U.S. states, that aims to protect the trademark of musical recording artists. The legislation provides that the name of a famous musical group cannot be used by a group of performers unless they include at least one member of the original group. The intent of the legislation is to prevent unfair or deceptive trade practices, and to protect the livelihood of musicians who were in famous musical groups.
The legislation, co-authored by former Sha Na Na member Jon "Bowzer" Bauman and promoted by him and Mary Wilson of the Supremes, was not passed by the U.S. Congress, but has been enacted in 35 of the 50 states. The legislation has been tested in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Background
From 1977 to 1981, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman hosted other musicians on his television show Sha Na Na. He talked with Carl Gardner of the Coasters and Charlie Thomas of the Drifters, discovering in the process that they were being victimized by "knock-off" groups of performers using the name of a famous group without having a member of that group. Ben E. King said he, Thomas and Bill Pinkney were losing out on potential gigs and income because there were "so many fake Drifters performing". Herb Reed of the Platters told Bauman that his group had experienced "about 30" court cases fighting against fake groups. Researching the laws, Bauman found that the original musicians had scant legal protection against their group name being used by promoters or other performers, so he determined to amend the existing laws to increase protection for the original musicians. He allied with the Vocal Group Hall of Fame to bring famous musicians together to help promote these new laws. VGHF President Bob Crosby said of the fake groups "It's a form of identity theft to the artists... Most importantly it is misleading the public for them to think they are seeing the artist who made the hits when they are not." Mary Wilson of the Supremes joined the effort, appearing with Bauman before the US Congress in March 1999. She said "We want these fake groups to say they are tribute groups or get their own name."Lawsuits
formed in 1953 with singer Clyde McPhatter and manager George Treadwell sharing the name equally. McPhatter sold his half to Treadwell in 1954, giving Treadwell full control of the Drifters' name, an action that he later regretted, because it caused financial problems for his fellow musicians. Treadwell died in 1967, leaving his widow, Faye Treadwell, as manager of the group. In 1969, the founder and editor of Rock Magazine, Larry Marshak, planned a series of concerts to be performed by classic vocal groups including the Drifters. Former Drifter Ben E. King responded that he would not perform, but he referred Marshak to Charlie Thomas, Elsbeary Hobbs and Doc Green, who agreed. Thomas, Hobbs and Green continued to perform as the Drifters under Marshak's management through the 1970s. However, starting in 1972, Faye Treadwell revived the Drifters in the UK. Faye Treadwell and Marshak sued each other several times over the rights to the group name, with Treadwell winning the rights to the Drifters name in July 1999, Judge Nicholas H. Politan presiding in the case Marshak v. Treadwell, et al.Marshak appealed the decision to the Third Circuit. Federal Judges Samuel Alito, Maryanne Trump Barry and Ruggero J. Aldisert determined in February 2001 that Marshak's 1978 trademark registration for the Drifters name must be canceled as invalid, and that Marshak must stop using the Drifters' name in business. Marshak was ordered to tell the court how much money he had made on performances by the Drifters.
After learning of Faye Treadwell's declining health, daughter Tina Treadwell left her position as vice president at Disney to continue the court battle, filing parallel lawsuits in the US and the UK in December 2006. Tina Treadwell said of Marshak and his associates, "They've diluted the brand with impostors." 20/20 reported in 2007 that promoters Charles Mehlich and Larry Marshak were being sued in New Jersey for using the Drifters' name. Marshak, his associate Barry Singer, and their attorney William L. Charron countersued, charging that New Jersey's Attorney General Anne Milgram should not have issued subpoenas to the Atlantic City Hilton Casino in her effort to enforce the state's recently passed Truth in Music law, to stop performances by groups billed as the Platters, the Drifters and the Coasters. The countersuit was seen as the first legal challenge to the Truth in Music legislation. In September 2007, U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise found Marshak in contempt of court for continuing to use the group names after the 1999 injunction against him doing so. The court discovered that Marshak had employed business associates and his relatives to run legal entities which promoted concerts by the Platters, the Coasters and the Drifters despite having no original singers among the performers. Debevoise called this deceptive business practice "an elaborate shell game." Marshak appealed, but lost in July 2009.
Barry Singer's business, Singer Management Consultants, was ordered to pay $24 million in damages, with $9 million going to Faye Treadwell, but Singer filed for personal bankruptcy under Chapter 7. In September 2010, a federal appeals court determined that Singer must pay Treadwell regardless of his bankruptcy filing. Faye Treadwell died in 2011.
The Truth in Music legislation was dealt a blow in August 2010 after a federal appeals court ordered the state of New Jersey to pay "significant" attorney's fees to Marshak and his associates.