I think the asterick on the band name was a good idea. I worked at a music store for a spell and we could never get "The Presidents of the United States of America" to fit on the title cards right and I refused to write "PUSA" because it sounds stupid and goes a bit against the whole idea of the name, which I think was to just make it really unwieldy and annoying.
I think artists and designers tend to defend everybody's art except photographers and film makers. There, I think it's taken advantage of a little bit. I've certainly been guilty of it in the past.
What font is that?