The licensing firm that controls the Elvis Presley identify and picture is ordering wedding ceremony chapel operators in Las Vegas to cease utilizing Elvis in themed ceremonies, the Las Vegas Evaluation-Journal reported.
Genuine Manufacturers Group despatched cease-and-desist letters in early Could to a number of chapels, that are anticipated to be compliant by now. However with Elvis so intently tied to the Vegas wedding ceremony trade, some say the transfer might harm enterprise.
“We're a family-run enterprise and now we’re hanging with the massive canine,” mentioned Kayla Collins, operator of LasVegasElvisWeddingChapel.com and the Little Chapel of Hearts. “That’s our bread and butter. I don’t get it. We have been simply hitting our stride once more via Covid, then this occurs.”
The Clark county clerk, Lynn Goya, who led a advertising marketing campaign selling Las Vegas as a marriage vacation spot, mentioned the order for chapels to cease utilizing Elvis couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Vegas wedding ceremony trade generates $2bn a yr and officers say Elvis-themed weddings symbolize a big variety of ceremonies carried out.
“It'd destroy a portion of our wedding ceremony trade,” Goya mentioned. “Numerous folks may lose their livelihood.”
One chapel final weekend had its Elvis impersonator change right into a leather-based jacket, denims and a fedora for a “rock’n’roll” ceremony, the Evaluation-Journal reported.
Graceland Marriage ceremony Chapel, which performs 6,400 Elvis-themed weddings a yr, had not been served a warning but, based on its supervisor, Rod Musum.
Within the cease-and-desist letter, the corporate mentioned it could halt unauthorized use of “Presley’s identify, likeness, voice picture, and different parts of Elvis Presley’s persona in ads, merchandise and in any other case”.
The letter additionally mentioned “Elvis”, “Elvis Presley” and “The King of Rock and Roll” have been protected logos.
In a press release, Genuine Manufacturers Group mentioned it had sturdy relationships with Elvis tribute artists and fan festivals and mentioned there was “no intention to close down chapels that provide Elvis packages in Las Vegas”.
“We're looking for to associate with every of those small companies to make sure that their use of Elvis’ identify, picture and likeness are formally licensed and licensed by the property, to allow them to proceed their operations,” Genuine Manufacturers Group mentioned.
“Elvis is embedded into the material of Las Vegas historical past.”
The licensing firm oversees the estates of different massive names together with Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
The order mustn't translate into authorized motion towards Elvis-themed stage reveals in Las Vegas as a result of impersonating somebody for reside performances is taken into account an exception underneath Nevada’s proper of publicity legislation, mentioned Mark Tratos, a neighborhood legal professional who helped write the statute.
Presley grew to become indelibly linked to Las Vegas within the Sixties and 70s. A 1964 film, Viva Las Vegas, yielded a title monitor that grew to become the town’s unofficial theme. In July 1969, Presley redefined the Vegas residency along with his reside comeback on the Las Vegas Worldwide lodge. What began as a four-week gig became greater than 600 reveals, working till December 1976.
Presley received married in Las Vegas in 1967, to Priscilla Beaulieu, now Presley.
Kent Ripley, whose enterprise is known as Elvis Weddings, mentioned he had by no means run into this drawback in 25 years of performing as Elvis.
“They need to shield the Elvis model,” he mentioned. “However what are they defending by taking Elvis away from the general public?”
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