Honouring musicians and their legacy, how do tribute acts avoid the legal issues around the music they perform?
Tribute acts are one of the most exciting and creative ways fans can experience live renditions of their favourite musicians. Tribute acts provide a nostalgic fixture in live performances, taking the industry to another level, especially in ticket sales. Tribute acts are a cheaper alternative way of hearing older bands that may not perform anymore. While honouring the original artist’s music, image, and style, tribute bands must understand copyright infringement and how it can be avoided. Is the biggest factor surrounding the concept of a tribute act considered illegal?
Tribute acts are musical performers or groups who replicate the music, appearance, and performance style of well-known artists or bands. Tribute acts dedicate their identity to a singer, adopting their look, name, and stage persona. Not everyone would necessarily agree that tributes are celebratory, as the level of mimicry can quickly raise a flag. There are four main sections of copyright law that tributes must contend with, these include passing off, right of publicity, trademark, and copyright music.
Speaking to Michael Coyle, Solicitor Advocate, he mentioned, “Tribute artists are required to refrain from misrepresenting or using protected branding (such as logos, album art, or stage designs) without permission. Copying the identity of the actual band may result in trademark issues.” One of the most common ways in which tribute bands find themselves with issues is if they perform under a name that is closely associated with the real act. If the original act shows that they lost audiences or live revenue due to a tribute act, there would be a strong case for legal action against the tribute band. Band names and logos are often trademarked, which can unfortunately lead to infringement, for example, if a tribute act names itself “Queen UK”, the original act could argue that the tribute act is affiliated with the real band, when it’s not.
Any song written or recorded is protected by copyright. Performing a copyrighted song in public requires a performance license. This is obtained and paid for by owners of different venues to organisations that control performance rights. Performance rights organisations represent composers and songwriters and collect royalties on their behalf when the music is played or performed publicly. Most tribute acts technically violate the rights of the original act if bands don’t secure the proper license. Coyle also highlighted, “Tributes do not directly pay royalties. Rather, the collection agencies are in charge of granting public performance licences to venues or event planners, who then pay fees to the right owners.”
Despite the legal risks, tribute acts continue to flourish and grow, they offer something that originals can’t, accessibility. In some cases, artists and record labels quietly support tributes, where they see tributes as free marketing and keeping musicians’ legacy alive.
The music industry may soon find itself navigating a new emerging area of digital acts, such as virtual concerts and AI, such as Abba Voyage and Elvis Evolution. What rights would ABBA and Elvis’ estate hold over these performances? ABBA Voyage isn’t exactly a tribute to the band; the digital versions of the members were created using a capture suit and CGI, which makes them far more realistic. The recorded movement makes it harder to copy as it’s one of its kind and is harder to be in the hands to copyright infringement. Whereas, Elvis Evolution is a layered reality experience combining video and his music to create a new immersive experience. There’s a partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises and the custodians of Elvis Presley’s estate, “we have accessed thousands of Elvis’ personal photos and hours of the star’s home videos.” says Elvis Evolution.com. The collaboration with his estate supports any area of the virtual show to have the copyright, as videos and his music are allowed to be used.
Overall, tribute acts in any form have to cope with the legal web by operating within certain boundaries. While copyright protects music, lyrics, and recordings, tribute acts perform live covers rather than reproducing the recordings. The live performances of tribute bands are covered by the venue they perform in by ‘performance right organisations’, which allows tributes to legally perform without securing permission from the actual band. Issues can arise around trademarking when tribute acts use the original band’s name in advertising. To avoid this, many tributes use phrases such as ‘tribute to’ or ‘in celebration’, or some even go further to obtain licenses from the original. Tribute acts exist in a tolerated area of the music industry if they do not harm the original band’s reputation.
