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Las Vegas: Elvis must leave the building

 

One of the smaller pillars of Las Vegas's economy is under threat in a dispute over rights to the name and image of Elvis Presley.

If you were planning to turn up in one of the many Las Vegas wedding chapels offering 'Elvis Weddings,' you may need to put your plan on hold, because numbers of the chapels including LasVegasElvisWeddingChapel.com have been sent cease-and-desist letters, ordering them to stop using the name and image.

The letters come from  Authentic Brands Group, a brand management company that owns or manages the rights and likenesses of a number of past celebrities, including not only Elvis but Muhammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe. The company licenses use of the images on various kinds of merchandise and events. All told the company owns over fifty brands, including Brooks Brothers and Van Heusen.

While wedding chapels will now have to figure out how to survive—one has already dropped the theme and rebranded itself as offering 'Rock 'n Roll' weddings—live shows by Elvis impersonators are not affected, because they are exempt under Nevada's 'right of publicity' law.

Image: Graceland Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas

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I think Elvis would have been tickled that people want to be married by someone looking like him.  These tend to be Elvis fans, and Elvis did what he could for his fans.

Seems corporations have lost touch with the people whose interests they are supposed to represent.  Same is true of Disney, where "What would Walt do?" was a guiding principle for decades after his death.

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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