No Bolan, no T. Rex Petition

[mgauction]

This was emailed to me today and I find it an interesting petition:

To: The UK Copyright Service
T.Rex: a great band, and probably one of your favourites if you are here, reading the details of this petition. T.Rex was founded by Marc Bolan after he shortened the name from Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1970. Marc Bolan wrote & played on every song T.Rex ever recorded, aside from the occasional cover song. As you already know, Marc Bolan died tragically on the morning of 16 September 1977.

More than 20 years after Marc's death, Mickey Finn, percussionist for T.Rex from 1970 to 1975, started a group called MICKEY FINN'S T-REX, which he toured with for some successful live shows - being a great tribute to the memory of Marc Bolan. Sadly, Mickey died in 2003 of liver complications, leaving Mickey's family and bandmates behind.

Here is where this petition begins. Mickey's bandmates (Paul Fenton, Robert Benson, Graham Oliver, Anthony AllDay, David Major) decided to drop Mickey's name from the group and shorten it to simply "T-Rex". They now (2008) tour the UK and are planning a USA tour this year as T-Rex, but on their myspace site (www.myspace.com/trexofficial) they claim to be T.Rex and since they paid for myspace promotion software, they have more "plays" than any other T.Rex myspace page, so when any Myspace generation T.Rex fan does a simple search for "T.Rex" it is their site that comes up first. Not to mention, they so far have ONLY used pictures of Marc Bolan & Mickey Finn to promote their concerts.

This "T-Rex" band has also released a CD titled "Classic Hits" even thought the band members never had a hit or part in making them hits (aside from Paul Fenton who drummed on a few original T.Rex tracks). The iTunes community seems largely disappointed and it appears they feel ripped off, as that's what the many 1 star reviews express.

Please sign this petition if you truly believe this statement:

No group of people should be allowed to call themselves T-Rex, T.Rex, or any variation of T.Rex, and use pictures of Marc Bolan or Mickey Finn to promote themselves, now that neither Marc Bolan nor Mickey Finn are living.

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nobolan1/

[phlemmy]

No group of people should be allowed to call themselves T-Rex, T.Rex, or any variation of T.Rex, and use pictures of Marc Bolan or Mickey Finn to promote themselves, now that neither Marc Bolan nor Mickey Finn are living.

I sort of feel this way about the Thin Lizzy happenings over the last decade or so. They should be called the Gorham/Sykes tribute to Thin Lizzy or something.

[mgauction]

I figured, Sean, that some here might feel like you about other bands, not just about T. Rex. I think this issue strikes a chord with many other bands out there on the road.

[octagon]

That reminds me of what happened about 30 years ago when Fleetwood Mac's ex manager claimed tried to claim the right to the band's moniker and almost started a riot when booked a gig with his phoney "Mac".

[loendmaestro]

Rod Evans, the first singer for Deep Purple (Hush, Kentucky Woman) tried touring with a bogus Deep Purple in 1980 & ended up losing all of his future royalties for the back catalog in the ensuing litigation/settlement....