Frank Godiva
DFO Master
According the the drum lawyer they are
“From a legal standpoint, any band can cover a song during a live performance, as a result of blanket licenses obtained and paid for by venue owners to performance rights organizations (PROs) such as SOCAN in Canada and ASCAP or BMI in the United States. In theory, every time a song is covered in a live performance, the original writers of that song get paid. So you can cover any song or series of songs you like onstage, and the venues and PROs will sort out who should be compensated.
With tribute acts, however, more is at stake. Not only are the tribute acts performing the songs of the original act, they are trading off the name, brand, images and reputation of the original act. In the legal world we call this personality rights or the “right of publicity”.
lawyerdrummer.com
“From a legal standpoint, any band can cover a song during a live performance, as a result of blanket licenses obtained and paid for by venue owners to performance rights organizations (PROs) such as SOCAN in Canada and ASCAP or BMI in the United States. In theory, every time a song is covered in a live performance, the original writers of that song get paid. So you can cover any song or series of songs you like onstage, and the venues and PROs will sort out who should be compensated.
With tribute acts, however, more is at stake. Not only are the tribute acts performing the songs of the original act, they are trading off the name, brand, images and reputation of the original act. In the legal world we call this personality rights or the “right of publicity”.
Are Tribute Acts Actually Legal? - Kurt Dahl Lawyer Drummer
