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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Billboard reveals its yearly list of the top lawyers in the music industry; experts weigh in on the recent copyright infringement lawsuit against the Rolling Stones; Tory Lanez asks for a new trial following his conviction for shooting Megan Thee Stallion; and much more.
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THE BIG STORY: The Lawyers Behind The Music Biz
Billboard revealed its yearly list of top attorneys in the music industry this week, breaking down not only the best dealmakers and litigators at the country’s elite law firms, but also the key players from in-house legal departments at record labels, streamers, concert promoters and more.
Among other things, we asked this year’s honorees to name the pressing concern facing the music business in 2023. One of the most common responses from the folks who get paid to worry about future legal problems? The rise of so-called generative artificial intelligence tools like the popular ChatGPT.
“Those of us representing human artists and songwriters will have to stay ahead of the curve to ensure our clients have the opportunity to evolve in tandem with technology,” said Farrah A. Usmani, an attorney at the firm Nixon Peabody.
To read this year’s full list of Top Music Lawyers – featuring dozens of names with short blurbs on why they matter in 2023’s music industry – go read the entire thing here.
Other top stories…
NO SATISFACTION LIKELY FOR STONES ACCUSER – I took a deep dive last week into the recent copyright lawsuit claiming that the Rolling Stones copied their 2020 song “Living In A Ghost Town” from two little-known tracks, chatting with musicologists and litigators to understand the allegations and whether they’re likely to succeed. Go read what they said here.
MORE ROLLING STONES LITIGATION – In unrelated news, a new trademark lawsuit was filed that centers on the famed “tongue and lips” logo used by the Stones since 1971. The case was filed by a clothing chain that says it was threatened by a UMG-owned merch company with “unfounded” infringement litigation after it featured a similar design on t-shirts. (The band itself is not involved in the litigation and is not accused of any wrongdoing.)
TORY LANEZ DEMANDS NEW TRIAL – Attorneys for the rapper asked a Los Angeles judge for a new trial after he was convicted in December in the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, calling the guilty verdict a “miscarriage of justice.” Such requests are standard procedure for someone who has lost at trial, but they are very rarely granted.
NICK CARTER COUNTERSUIT MOVES AHEAD – A Las Vegas judge refused to dismiss a countersuit filed by Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter against Shannon “Shay” Ruth, a woman who has accused him of rape. Ruth claimed that Carter’s defamation case was a so-called SLAPP suit that aimed only to “harass and intimidate” her, but Judge Nancy Alff was not convinced.
COACHELLA SETTLES ‘COACHILLIN’ LAWSUIT – The organizers of the annual festival agreed to drop a trademark lawsuit against Coachillin Business Park, a development site located just a few miles to the north of the grounds. Under the terms of the settlement, Coachillin said it would “cease any and all use” of the name going forward.
The magic number is 44 for I.M.P. productions today as it prepares for the 44th anniversary of the opening of the original 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., with the May 30 launch of Atlantis, a 450-capacity venue with 44 underplay shows booked through late September — including an opening show from the Foo Fighters — all priced at $44.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl let the news slip that I.M.P. would open a new, smaller venue fashioned as a near-replica of the original 9:30 Club — where he got his start — when he reopened the venue in 2021 following the COVID-19 shutdown.
“We’ll probably be the band that opens that place, too, right?” he told the confused audience at the time. Notably, the original 9:30 Club — located at 930 F Street, NW in D.C. — was previously home to another club called Atlantis prior to I.M.P.’s takeover of the venue in 1980.
The new Atlantis, which cost $10 million, will be located next to the newer, 1,200-capacity 9:30 Club, located at 815 V St NW. It will serve as a replica of the original 9:30 Club, “sans the gargantuan rats and notorious stench, but with a nod to the infamous pole,” a press release reads.
“We’ve been doing our smallest shows in other peoples’ venues for too many years now,” said Seth Hurwitz, chairman of I.M.P. “We needed a place that’s ours. This can be the most exciting step in an artist’s career. This will be where we help introduce new artists to the world, and their story needs to be told right. Our smallest venue will be treated as important, if not more, than our bigger venues. If the stories are told right, both the artists and the fans begin their hopefully long-term relationship, and we as promoters do better too.”
When Foo Fighters kick off this new era of The Atlantis, Dave Grohl won’t just be christening the room – he’ll be honoring the legacy of a space that he attended as a kid and later took the stage of with bands like Scream and Nirvana.
Tickets for the inaugural run of shows at The Atlantis will be $44 each and non-transferable. They will be sold via a lottery-style process, with protections to ensure that real fans attend the shows. To thwart scalping, The Atlantis is utilizing Ticketmaster Request for the inaugural run of shows, which is open now at TheAtlantis.com and will run through Friday (April 7) at 11:59 p.m.. ET. Fans will learn next week if their ticket requests have been fulfilled. If a ticketholder is unable to make the show, a fan-to-fan face-value ticket exchange option will be available.
The Atlantis will be booked by Zhubin Aghamolla, who also books The Anthem and Merriweather Post Pavilion, while Sam Hurwitz has been named general manager. Hurwitz has served as front-of-house manager for D.C. club The Anthem since 2018.
You can find the full schedule for The Atlantis’ 44-show run, dedicated to the 9:30 Club’s history, present, and future, below.
May 30 – Foo Fighters
May 31 – The Walkmen
June 2 – Hot Chip
June 3 – Rainbow Kitten Surprise
June 4 – Modern English
June 5 – Franz Ferdinand
June 6 – Pixies
June 9 – Tank and the Bangas
June 10 – Yo La Tengo
June 16 – Marc Roberge of O.A.R.
June 17 – Hannibal Buress + Eshu Tune
June 19 – Sylvan Esso
June 20 – Darius Rucker
June 24 – Rodrigo y Gabriela
June 25 – X
June 28 – Jeff Tweedy
July 2 – Barenaked Ladies
July 6 – Tegan and Sara
July 7 – The Head and The Heart
July 15 – The Magnetic Fields
July 20 – Clutch
July 21 – Jenny Lewis
July 23 – The Struts
July 27 – Third Eye Blind
July 28 – Portugal. The Man
July 29 – Living Colour
July 30 – Iron & Wine
Aug. 5 – Gogol Bordello
Aug. 6 – Bush
Aug. 8 – Shakey Graves
Aug. 10 – Drive-By Truckers
Aug. 14 – Parliament Funkadelic feat. George Clinton
Aug. 17 – Thievery Corporation
Aug. 27 – Joan Jett
Aug. 28 – Gary Clark Jr.
Sept. 2 – Ben Gibbard
Sept. 6 – Luna
Sept. 9 – Bartees Strange
Sept. 13 – Spoon
Sept. 15 – Tove Lo
Sept. 17 – Billy Idol
Sept. 21 – Bastille
Sept. 22 – Matt and Kim
Sept. 29 – Maggie Rogers
American singer/songwriter and Youtuber Poppy has returned to Sumerian Records and released the new single and music video “Church Outfit.”
Sumerian Records founder Ash Avildsen says he was thrilled to bring Poppy — known for representing “a future where high art and high fashion equal subversion of the highest order,” according to her bio — back to Sumerian after a brief stint at Lava Records, which released her EP Stagger last year.
“The only thing more exciting than signing an iconic artist for the first time is signing them again when they choose to return home,” Avildsen says. “Poppy is a pioneer and lover of music, film, pro-wrestling, the unorthodox and the avant-garde. That is why I believe Sumerian is still the best label in the world for her. We are thrilled to have her back.”
During her initial time as a Sumerian Records artist, Poppy released two albums — 2020’s I Disagree and 2021’s Flux — and the 2021 EP Eat (NXT Soundtrack). During that period, she also became the first-ever solo female artist to be nominated for best metal performance at the Grammys for her 2019 single “Bloodmoney.”
Beyond tallying 100 million-plus streams, according to a press release, Poppy has been featured on the covers of NME, Revolver, Upset, Kerrang! and Tush and performed at the 2021 Grammy Awards and the 2022 Glastonbury festival. She’s toured with The Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction.
“It’s an artist’s responsibility to always change,” Poppy explained in a press release announcing her return to Sumerian. “I don’t think I’d want to be in my body if I was repeating the same thing over and over again. I’m only competing with myself. I will continue to write the story until I get tired of the book. Then, I’ll write another one.”
Anitta and Warner Music Group are parting ways, both parties announced in a joint statement the Brazilian star posted on social media on Tuesday (April 4).
“After eleven years of successful partnership, we’ve agreed to go our separate ways,” reads the post. “Anitta would like to thank the Warner Music team for all their support. And the Warner team wishes Anitta all the best in the future.”
Anitta signed with Warner Music in the U.S. in 2020 after previously linking with Warner Music Brazil in 2013. Under the U.S. contract, she produced Versions of Me, which was executive produced by Ryan Tedder. The trilingual album was recorded mostly in English with a few songs in Spanish and one in Portuguese. It included the hit song “Envolver,” which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart and on Spotify’s Global list, making Anitta the first Brazilian artist to achieve either feat. Meanwhile, the self-directed video for the song claimed the top spot on YouTube’s Global Top Music Videos chart. It currently has more than 500 million views on YouTube.
The news comes after Anitta took to Twitter in March to say she would have “auctioned off her organs” to be let out of her Warner contract. “If there was a fine to pay, I would have already auctioned off my organs, no matter how expensive it was to get out. But unfortunately, there isn’t,” she wrote. “When you’re young and still don’t know a lot, you need to pay close attention to the things you sign… if you don’t, you could spend a lifetime paying for the mistake.”
It wasn’t the first time Anitta has complained about her relationship with WMG. According to Anitta, Warner refused to produce a video when they saw that the song’s performance on streaming platforms was falling below expectations.
“They only invest after it pays off on the internet,” Anitta said in an Instagram livestream in May. “Unfortunately, there are things I can’t get, that’s why I don’t buy millionaire cars, because when I want to do something, I pay for it.”
Recently, it was announced that Anitta has joined the Elite cast for season seven of the hit Netflix show.
Three top Universal Music Group Nashville executives have exited their roles: executive vp of promotion Royce Risser, evp of A&R Brian Wright and senior vp of A&R Stephanie Wright, according to Country Aircheck. Representatives at UMG Nashville did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Risser was promoted to evp in 2018. He began his career as an intern at MCA Records in 1991 and climbed the ranks as director, NE regional promotion, then director of national promotion and vp of promotion before assuming the role of svp of promotion for UMG Nashville in 2007.
Stephanie Wright joined UMGN more than two decades ago and previously served as vp of A&R. During her tenure with the label, Wright worked with artists including Kacey Musgraves, Luke Bryan and Sam Hunt, and was instrumental in albums including Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park and Hunt’s Montevallo.
Brian Wright also joined UMGN over two decades ago and was promoted to his evp role in 2018 and worked closely on albums including Jamey Johnson’s Lonesome Song, George Strait’s Troubadour and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller and From A Room Vols. 1 and 2.
The exits of the Wrights — who are married — and Risser come as Cindy Mabe officially began her role as UMG Nashville chairman/CEO on April 1, following former UMGN chairman/CEO Mike Dungan‘s retirement. Mabe was named president of UMGN in 2014 and with her rise to chairman/CEO, she becomes the first woman to serve as chairman/CEO of a Nashville-based major label group.
Earlier this year, Katie Dean left UMG after a two-decade tenure with the company; Dean had led MCA Nashville’s promotion team since 2015. In 2022, UMG Nashville’s Rachel Fontenot exited her role as vp of marketing and artist development, while vp of marketing Brad Turcotte left UMG Nashville to become partner at 615 Leverage + Strategy.
Meanwhile, former Arista Nashville artist Brad Paisley recently signed a deal with UMG’s EMI Nashville imprint.
Despite a challenging economy and the lingering effect of the pandemic on the concert business, the German collecting society GEMA took in 1.178 billion euros ($1.25 billion) in revenue in 2022, a 13% increase over 2021. This year, for the first time, the organization’s distributions will exceed a billion euros.
“This is a record result,” said GEMA CEO Harald Heker in a statement. “The resurgence of events and music performances means a relief for our members after three hard years.”
Some of this increase reflects the continued growth of streaming, but some of it is due to the recovery from the pandemic.
GEMA collections from public music performances, its biggest category of revenue, grew to 357.5 million euros ($381.6 million), up 43.7% over 2021 (but still below the 407.4 million euro high of 2019). Online, the organization’s third biggest category, grew to 301.3 million euros ($321.6 million), up 26.5% over 2021. (Radio and television collections, the second biggest category of revenue, dropped 3.9% to 325.1 million euros [$347 million].) The amounts of money GEMA collects from levies on computers and items with blank memory, as well as from physical goods, both declined – by 27.7% and 9.2%, respectively.
GEMA is one of the first international collecting societies to announce its 2022 results, but its counterparts are expected to report good years as well, for some of the same reasons. Last month, ASCAP reported a 14% increase in collections over 2021, to $1.52 billion. (Collecting societies report their results differently, so exact comparisons can be difficult.) While organizations struggled to maintain revenue during the pandemic, the comeback of the concert business – and public life in general – should now boost all of them.
GEMA’s good news comes at an interesting time for the organization. As the 2014 EU directive on collecting societies continues to push them into competition with one another online, GEMA has emerged as one of the bigger and more successful organizations. In addition to its own operations, GEMA operates the online licensing and collecting hub ICE with STIM (Sweden) and PRS for Music (UK). Heker has led GEMA since 2007 and is expected to retire by the end of the year, and there is talk that GEMA will name its next CEO by summer.
Like many collecting societies and organizations of publishers and songwriters, GEMA believes that music-streaming is unfair to their side of the business, and rewards labels and artists disproportionately.
“The trend towards streaming must not lead to authors’ rights being undermined,” Heker said in the same statement. “GEMA’s most important task is and remains to stand up for fair remuneration in all areas and thus at the same time to secure conditions for a lively and diverse musical and cultural landscape.”
Through the first three months of 2023, two albums have largely defined the year and had a profound effect on the record label market share rankings for the first quarter: Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At a Time, on Republic; and SZA’s S.O.S., on RCA. Combined, the albums have spent all but two weeks atop the Billboard 200 albums chart this year and have contributed significantly to major gains for their respective labels.
In terms of current market share — albums released in the past 18 months — Republic Records has had a white-hot start, posting a 12.45% mark and besting the second-highest label, Interscope Geffen A&M (7.75%), by nearly five full percentage points. While Republic has continued to benefit from an exceptionally strong fourth quarter of 2022 — Q4 releases like Taylor Swift’s Midnights, Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains and Drake & 21 Savage’s Her Loss are all in the top 10 most-consumed albums of 2023 so far — much of that increase can be attributed to Wallen’s album. One Thing At a Time is so big that Wallen’s Republic label partner, Big Loud Records, would have ranked as the No. 8 label in current share in Q1 if it were broken out on its own, having posted a 2.84% share so far in the year. (Republic’s market share encompasses Big Loud, Island, Cash Money, Mercury and indie distributor Imperial.) In fact, the first-week impact of Wallen’s album was so large that it boosted Republic’s single-week current market share from 9.76% the week before it came out to 18.14% the week it debuted, meaning that nearly one in every five album consumption units that week was a Republic Records release.
Meanwhile, the SZA album, which has topped the Billboard 200 for eight non-consecutive weeks in 2023 so far, helped catapult RCA to a 5.76% current market share in Q1 this year. That’s up from 4.34% this time last year and lands it in fifth place, only slightly behind its Sony sister label Columbia at 5.85%. That’s significant enough for RCA on its own — rarely, if ever, has it placed above Columbia in current share in any quarter in recent years — but alongside strong new releases like the Miley Cyrus album Endless Summer Vacation on Columbia, as well as the continuing success of releases from 2022 from Bad Bunny (Un Verano Sin Ti, The Orchard), Harry Styles (Harry’s House, Columbia), Beyoncé (Renaissance, Columbia) and Future (I Never Liked You, Epic), it’s helped push Sony Music Entertainment to a 28.46% current share in Q1. That’s up from 24.0% at this point last year and places Sony at its highest mark since the end of 2016, according to Luminate.
Those are the biggest takeaways from a first quarter that has thrown up plenty of surprises so far, as labels have settled into another year of a changing marketplace. Sony’s surge has seen the second-largest major close the gap in current share on market leader Universal Music Group, which essentially held steady at 33.59% in Q1 2023 from 33.58% at the same point last year. The indie sector also had a strong quarter of releases, accounting for 21.15% of the market, while Warner Music Group came in at 16.81% in current share. (Warner and the indies do not have a direct year-over-year comparison due to WMG-owned distributor ADA being shifted under Warner’s umbrella midway through 2022.)
In current share, Interscope and Atlantic both receded from the first quarter of 2022 to 7.75% (from 8.91% last year) and 7.22% (from 10.57% last year), respectively, coming in second and third. (Interscope’s market share encompasses Verve Label Group, while Atlantic’s includes the combined 300 Elektra Entertainment Group). Surrounding RCA on the list is a trio of labels who all also boosted their current market share year over year, with Columbia coming in fourth (5.85%, up from 5.78%), Capitol Music Group coming in sixth (5.56%, up from 4.13%) and Warner Records finishing in seventh (5.23%, up from 4.22%), marking encouraging starts for those labels over the first quarter of 2022. (Columbia’s share includes some labels from indie distributor RED; Capitol includes Motown/Quality Control, Astralwerks, Blue Note and indie distributor Virgin; and Warner Records includes catalog label Rhino, Warner Latin and the bulk of Warner Nashville.)
Coming in eighth in current share is Sony Nashville at 2.30%, bolstered by the continued success of Luke Combs and his brand new album, Growin’ Old. That’s up big from the 1.51% it had in Q1 last year before Growin’ Up was released last April. In ninth place is Epic Records, which at 2.06% saw a boost from 1.83% at this point in 2022. Sony Music Latin rounded out the top 10 among current share with 1.92%.
In overall market share, which factors in current as well as a label’s catalog, Universal Music Group’s dominance extends to more than 10 percentage points, at 37.65% over Sony’s 27.62%. That gap has narrowed, however, as Sony picked up nearly two full percentage points year over year, posting its best number since the end of 2016. Warner, in overall share, flipped back above the indies, at 18.55%, with the latter posting 16.81% for the first quarter.
Among the individual labels, Interscope was No. 1 in overall share, at 9.44%, coming in just ahead of Republic’s 9.16%. That represents a slight dip for IGA (9.76% in Q1 last year), while Republic’s strong current share boosted it significantly from the 7.91% it posted in the first quarter of 2022, when it came in third. Dropping from second to third in overall share this year is Atlantic, at 8.31%, down from 9.49% this time last year.
Also making a jump in overall share is Capitol, which rebounded from sixth at this point last year to reach fourth in overall share in Q1 this year with 6.68%, up from 5.91% in 2022. Following in fifth and sixth are Columbia (6.55%) and Warner (6.38%), respectively, each up slightly year over year. RCA’s strong current figure this year allows it to stay in seventh, albeit with a larger 5.50% versus 4.92% in Q1 2022. Epic (2.63%) and Sony Nashville (2.03%) follow in eighth and ninth, while Def Jam’s stronger catalog figure lands it in 10th at 1.96% overall.
Additional Notes
— Because 300 Elektra Entertainment’s market share is included under Atlantic, they were excluded from breaking out in the rankings so as to not double count the figures. But its combined overall share comes out to 2.24%, which would have been good enough for ninth overall on its own. And that’s without digging into the success of Bailey Zimmerman, who has a top 10 record on the Hot 100 right now with “Rock And a Hard Place.” Zimmerman is signed to Elektra, which has its market share run through Atlantic, but is worked at radio through Warner Nashville, which has its market share split between Warner Records and Atlantic.
— Island, which runs through Republic, had a 1.51% overall share on its own, which would have been good enough for 15th had it been broken out thanks to a current share that has grown from 0.51% to 0.70% year over year. Similarly, Motown, which runs through Capitol, came in at 1.04% overall, driven by a big leap in current share from 0.71% in Q1 last year to 1.48% in Q1 this year thanks to releases from Lil Yachty and Lil Baby, among others.
— Elsewhere, Alamo continued punching high. Despite the fact that it’s the youngest label with probably the smallest roster of any label that made the rankings, it ranked 15th in current market share, at 0.88%, higher than several much larger and older labels.
Pipe Bueno has signed a management deal with Business Manager JB (helmed by artist manager Juan Ballesteros) and OCESA Seitrack, Billboard can exclusively reveal today (April 4).
With the new signing, JB & OCESA will develop Pipe’s career at a musical and commercial level in Mexico with the mission of taking his 15-year-long trajectory to an international level.
“We are sure that we signed the best representative of the genre in Colombia, and as an artist, he can transcend,” Ballesteros, who also manages Mike Bahía, Greeicy and Annasofia, tells Billboard. “I think we have a new ballad, mariachi, and pop star that comes with a lot of music and collaborations. We are happy to have this new challenge with Pipe Bueno and I hope that everyone receives it with the same joy and enthusiasm that we do.”
The artist born Andrés Felipe Giraldo Bueno launched his self-titled debut album in 2008, and has since risen to pioneer “la música popular Colombiana,” a musical genre that fuses traditional folk music from the Paisa Region with Regional Mexican elements, such as mariachi and ranchera. The genre is also locally known as “música de cantina” and is played at every parranda, parties that feature local music and food.
The innovative 31-year-old singer-songwriter has laced the genre with urban and pop rhythms by teaming up with artists such as Wisin, Zion, and Darrel, to name a few. Pipe has collaborated twice with his good friend and colleague Maluma on the tracks “La Invitación” (2014) and “Tequila” (2020). The former entered the Billboard Latin Rhythm Airplay chart in 2016.
Agencia Jaque
Satellite radio company SiriusXM Holdings said on Tuesday (April 4) that Thomas Barry will take over as chief financial officer later this month, according to a company statement.
Barry succeeds Sean Sullivan, who is leaving Sirius on April 28 for an opportunity at another publicly traded company “outside the industry,” according to the statement.
Barry, a 14-year veteran of SiriusXM, takes on the job of head of finances amid a company-wide reorganization that involved eliminating 475 jobs in March, as SiriusXM shifts resources into technology initiatives.
Barry has experience in “organizational transformation,” the company said, having played a key role in the integration of Sirius and XM after its 2008 merger, including as it relates to Pandora and the connected vehicle business. Barry previously served as senior vice president and controller and as chief accounting officer at the company.
“Tom is an experienced leader who has played a key role on SiriusXM’s finance team for the last fourteen years and … (who) has deep insight into our business and SiriusXM’s strategic, operating and financial priorities,” Jennifer Witz, SiriusXM’s chief executive officer said in the statement.
SiriusXM will report its first quarter 20203 financial results on April 27.
Coachella has agreed to drop its trademark lawsuit against a nearby California business park that called itself “Coachillin,” after the group said it would “cease any and all use” of the name.
The festival’s organizers (owned by AEG and its subsidiary Goldenvoice) filed the case in October against Coachillin Business Park, a planned development site located just a few miles north of the Empire Polo Club. They claimed the project was trying to free-ride on the famous name of the nearby festival.
In settlement papers filed Friday, Coachillin agreed to drop all use of the name on the internet with 45 days, and to stop using it entirely within 90 days. That means not only the name of the overall site, but related names like a “Coachchill Inn” hotel.
Any monetary terms of the settlement were not disclosed in public filings. Neither side’s attorneys immediately returned requests for more information on the terms of the agreement.
The lawsuit was part of an aggressive recent campaign from Coachella to protect its name against would-be imitators. In 2021, the festival sued Live Nation for selling tickets to a nearby event called “Coachella Day One 22,” and last year it filed a similar trademark case against a West African company over an event called “Afrochella.” Then in February, Coachella sued the creator of “Moechella,” a Washington D.C.-based music event centered on go-go music.
On its website, Coachillin described itself as an “Industrial Cultivation & Ancillary Canna-Business Park,” a proposed 160-acre site aimed at businesses in the cannabis industry. In addition to cultivation spaces, the group said the site will also feature a hotel, an amphitheater and other amenities.
In its October lawsuit, Coachella said it had “no objection” with any of that – except for the name, which they say is commonly used on social media as slang term for spending time at the music festival.
“The public has come to associate the phrase ‘Coachillin’ to refer to the Coachella Festival and plaintiffs, not merely to refer to the Coachella Valley—and certainly not Coachillin Holdings or its Coachillin Business Park,” wrote attorneys for the festival. “Defendants must use a distinctive name that does not infringe or trade on the goodwill of plaintiffs’ reputation.”