Bill tries to protect original rockers from ID theft

DES MOINES – An Iowa lawmaker wants bogus knock-off musical groups posing as authentic, old-time rockers to knock if off.

Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, has introduced legislation making it an unlawful practice in Iowa to advertise or conduct a live-music performance or production as a throw-back or classic musical act if the performing group does not contain at least one of the band's original members.

Dvorsky said he took up the cause of old-time rock ‘n' roll at the bidding of Jon “Bowzer” Bauman, a former member of Sha Na Na who pushed the idea to him during a recent tour stop at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort.

“It's kind of a cool thing protecting these old groups,” said Dvorsky. “They never got a lot of money for what they did anyway.”

According to truthinmusic.org and other Web sites working to halt fraudulent musical acts from profiting off once-popular recording artists, the imposter bands are engaging in a sophisticated form of identity theft that is being addressed by state laws adopted to curb the practice.

Advocates of measures such as Senate File 2089 say the imposter groups are able to undercut the bona fide performances by charging less per performance, but in the process they're damaging the original acts' reputations by performing their original hits badly.

Under Dvorsky's bill, advertising or conducting a live musical performance through the use or representation of a “false, deceptive or misleading” link to a performing or recording group would be an unlawful practice under Iowa's consumer fraud provisions. The law would provide injunctive relief to block a phony performance and a civil penalty of up to $40,000 per violation. Additionally, a civil penalty of up to $5,000 could be imposed for each day for intentionally violating a restraining order or injunction.

Even though the 2010 session is dominated by money issues, Dvorsky was optimistic the bill could make it to Gov. Chet Culver's desk yet this year.

“There shouldn't be a lot of opposition, so I think it's something that we could just go ahead and pass,” he said.