Since a large part of counterfeiting in the music industry occurs through street vendor sales of recordings and concert venue sales of merchandise and recordings, it has become necessary to employ more effective means of stemming such activity outside the traditional means of inter partes preliminary injunctions. Unfortunately counterfeiters who are served with notice of a judicial hearing concerning their activities are unlikely to preserve evidence for the hearing. In addition, concerts and the corresponding opportunity for counterfeiting and retrieving evidence are over by the time the traditional wheels of justice enable a plaintiff to act. Therefore, the ability to take action quickly, without notice to the offending party and, in some cases, without even knowing the identity of the defendant in advance, is critical.

In the United States, a federal court may issue an ex parte temporary restraining order (TRO) that authorizes a plaintiff to effect the seizure of counterfeit merchandise. Such an order may be obtained where the identity of the counterfeiters is not known in advance, known as "John Doe" TRO’s. This order is available under Lanham Act Section 34(d) (as amended by the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984, discussed above) against the sale or distribution of counterfeit goods. Certain state statutes also provide for such orders. The federal law provides for seizure orders of merchandise and records relating to the production of such merchandise and also establishes the possibility of monetary relief for willful counterfeiting. Such orders must be specifically tailored in order to avoid offending the provisions of the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures, but may be granted for a geographic area beyond the actual territorial jurisdiction of the court issuing the order, although courts are reluctant to grant orders that are effective nationwide.

Ex parte seizure orders may even be available for the counterfeiting of trademarks that are unregistered under the unfair competition provisions of Lanham Act Section 43(a), discussed above.

In some countries outside of the United States, it is also possible to obtain the equivalent of a "John Doe" seizure order for use at concert venues, although the effectiveness and scope of such orders varies considerably.