As to ownership of a band name, that is a very interesting topic that has led to legal battles with some groups. One of the oddest situations I ever remember hearing about was The Platters. I recently did some research on this group because I've added the song "Twilight Time" (which I play on ukulele) to my show. The song was written by Buck Ram, who basically made The Platters.
After taking on the floundering group in 1953, Ram made some personnel changes, bringing in Tony Williams (THE voice of The Platters), Paul Robi and adding a female voice to the group, Zola Taylor. With the line-up solidified, and with Buck Ram's songs and production, the group started having multiple hit records.
Unique to the business at that time, Ram incorporated the group in 1955, with each member receiving a 20% stock share and other benefits. Over the years, as members left the group, Ram and his business partner bought their stock, ultimately giving them ownership rights to "The Platters" name.
Despite that, several departing members started their own version of The Platters and at one point there were four different groups touring under that name. Tony Williams, Zola Taylor and Paul Robi each led a different group under The Platters banner, hiring singers to flesh out their groups. To disguish the "legal" group from these off-shoots, Buck Ram added his name to his official group, which in my opinion weakened the brand, calling it "The Buck Ram Platters." Hmmm...
Then another version of the group sprang up that included original member, David Lynch, along with Zola Taylor and Paul Robi and they called themselves "The Original Platters." Several legal battels ensued over the use of the name, and eventually the last original member of the group, Herb Reed, licensed The Platters name from the corporation, somewhat quelling the confusion.
In the case of The Kingston Trio, it's well-documented that Bob Shane bought the KT name from his partners at the time, Nick Reynolds and Frank Werber. As part of the deal I believe he gave up his interest in royalties from the original recordings, which in the early 1970's had probably dwindled considerably. Bob claimed that the deal paid off for him big-time because the group made the bulk of its income (and always had) from touring anyway.
When I was with The Brothers Four the issue of ownership of the name never came up. I have no idea whether there was ever any official registration of the name under the original members or Mort Lewis, but it never occurred to me to ask about that. The group functioned as an equal partnership, with expenses coming off the top and each of us receiving an equal split of the net.
I have no idea how the group operates now, and since Mark ain't talkin', I'll only speculate as an outsider that Bob Flick, the last original member of the group, has probably taken steps to solidify the issue of legal ownership of the name somehow. Perhaps that could even include some arrangement with Dick, John and Mike - I don't know.
I will say this - when I left the group I did receive a nice severance from my partners, including an advance on any potential recording royalties (I gave up claim to those in exchange for the cash) and one of the original Brothers Four upright basses. There were two - Fritz and Agnes - I think I have Agnes.
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