Last month when I heard that Herb Reed of the Platters had died and was reminded that he had waged a fairly protracted legal battle over the use of the Platters name, I thought back to an entry I did about the question of who owns a band’s name.
At the time, there were over 80 groups listed performing under the Platters name and a number of people, including Reed claiming ownership. There was a push for truth in music laws to keep imposter bands but as noted in my entry and the NPR story I link to, it isn’t always very easy to determine who has the most valid ownership claim.
As something of a postscript to my original entry, Reed was ultimately successful in exerting his claim as the sole original member.
