With the passing of some of the great musical icons that have
certainly provided the soundtrack to my life (I think of Tom Petty,
Leonard Cohen, Prince, David Bowie, Malcolm Young and Chris
Cornell) it did not go unnoticed that what followed was a marked
increase in sales of their music and associated
merchandise.
While it is only natural that as fans we try to capture and
commemorate the importance of those whose music and artistic
contributions impact our lives, it is often left to the estate of a
musician to try to stop rogue third parties trying to exploit or
otherwise take advantage of the reputation and brand that an artist
has built over their professional career.
Although the media often confuses different types of
intellectual property rights, in this instance, we're not
focussing on the well-documented copyright tussles of musicians
including Led Zeppelin, George Harrison, Men at Work, David Bowie,
Queen and Marvin Gaye – but rather the humble,
