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Pearl Jam shuts down tribute act Pearl Jamm


uk_lefty

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6 minutes ago, PatrickJ said:

Well I guess I should find a new avatar since I'm currently using a Pearl Jam logo I found via Google. 

I wouldn't want @ped getting in trouble with the lawyers for allowing the use of it on his website, not after all that nasty Rickenbacker business!!

 

What to do eh? Guess you are stuck between baroque and a hard place.

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4 hours ago, stewblack said:

I have seldom felt as awkward as when signing autographs for punters after a tribute gig. 

I’ve signed autographs on various parts of fans bodies on various tours, especially in the US. I did genuinely explain each time that I was the drum and/or bass tech but it never made any difference, my awkwardness soon evaporated.

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2 minutes ago, Frank Blank said:

I’ve signed autographs on various parts of fans bodies on various tours, especially in the US. I did genuinely explain each time that I was the drum and/or bass tech but it never made any difference, my awkwardness soon evaporated.

I wonder how many of those signatures are now tattoos... 

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4 hours ago, stewblack said:

I have seldom felt as awkward as when signing autographs for punters after a tribute gig. 

Back in the day there was a band called The Applejacks. My Dad happened to be out with them having a drink or two, when fans started asking for autographs, but they were also asking my Dad. He looked at the vocalist in a 'what shall I do?' kind of way, and the vocalist just laughed and said 'sign them!'.

So there must have been Applejack fans at home later that night, looking at their autographs wondering 'who the hell is that?'.

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15 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

I wonder how many of those signatures are now tattoos... 

Not many I hope! I used to sign whatever name popped into my head. One woman in Iowa had Frank Muir autographed across her left boob, I don’t suppose there’s much demand for reruns of Call My Bluff in the Midwest.

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Edited by Frank Blank
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6 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

I think there's been a thread before but my favourite tribute band name is By Jovi.

Back in the, when in an Americana band, we were going to a Bon Jovi tribute gig for a laugh (possibly as our own support slot), with the name of Ban Jovi.

To be fair, after a couple of rehearsals it was clear that the name was the best bit...

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I was talking to a mate in Jersey last night and whether I'll be able to have a trip over this year, and if so, whether any of the planned festivals and gigs over there are likely to actually happen, and there is a gig listing for the Jersey Opera House in September for a performance by Clearwater Creedence Revival.  I was saying to myself "I didn't know they'd reformed" for about five minutes before the penny dropped that I'd misread it

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25 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

I was talking to a mate in Jersey last night and whether I'll be able to have a trip over this year, and if so, whether any of the planned festivals and gigs over there are likely to actually happen, and there is a gig listing for the Jersey Opera House in September for a performance by Clearwater Creedence Revival.  I was saying to myself "I didn't know they'd reformed" for about five minutes before the penny dropped that I'd misread it

Clearwater Creedence Revival - That's a good one. I guess the band members are from Clearwater, FL?

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I agree, it does seem that 'Pearl Jamm' crossed a line.

Their name sounds exactly the same and that means it could potentially be used to argue it's a 'generic' term as has been an expensive problem for companies like Hoover and Xerox in the past.

You could also argue that 'Alexa play pearl jam(m)' could lead to lost royalties.

There's little doubt in my mind the merch is closer to real Pearl Jam stuff than the recent 'designer' gear that was done for ripping off Nirvana's logo.

It could be very difficult for them not to be falling foul of 'passing off' under UK law.

The consequences of these things are not just financial - I had a whole load of grief when someone produced a report for their dad to support a planning application under a name that was the same as my consultancy (less the 'limited' on the end). Sorted amicably in the end, but I had to field a fair few emails from individuals, local groups and even the local authority. There was real potential for reputational damage.

 

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It's not just one band they've gone after - I've got a few mates who are in "Pearl Jam UK", previously called Pearl Jammer. They've been a (very very good) working PJ tribute for over ten years, are genuine massive fans of the band, and everything they do is very very clearly marketed as a tribute show.  They've had exactly the same legal smackdown sent their way as the other tribute that seem to have had all the press over it. Someone in Pearl Jam HQ has obviously decided to turn the lawyers loose and just go hunting for tribute bands.

I don't think anybody sees anything put out by a tribute act and confuses it for the original (although a news article about PJ did once run a photo of my mate Kev "being" Eddie Vedder on stage instead of the real Eddie by mistake 🤣).  More often than not, tribs are superfans of the original artist so it's even more of a kick in the teeth. I'd find it hard to argue that they're harming the brand of the real deal. 

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