If you were planning on having an Elvis wedding in Las Vegas you better reconsider, because the King’s estate have blocked chapels from using his likeness.
Elvis Presley’s estate have said a huge “I don’t” to impersonators officiating Las Vegas weddings, banning the use of any likeness to ‘The King’.
Elvis weddings account for around $2 billion dollars of revenue each year for the city, so Las Vegas is likely to take a huge hit.
“This couldn’t hit at a worse time. It’s not a good thing,” said Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya, who’s in charge of marketing for Las Vegas’ wedding campaign. “It might destroy a portion of our wedding industry. A number of people might lose their livelihood.”
The company that controls the rights to Elvis’ name and image, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), have argued that the use of “Presley’s name, likeness, voice image, and other elements” is trademark infringement, with “Elvis”, “Elvis Presley,” and “The King of Rock and Roll,” all included in ABG’s list of trademarks.
So far, Graceland Wedding Chapel, the host of more than 6,400 Elvis-themed weddings each year, hasn’t been warned about trademark infringement yet.
But you can’t take the Elvis out of Las Vegas, so while tribute artists won’t be able to perform at wedding ceremonies, they will still be entitled to perform stage shows due to the Sin City’s “right of publicity” stature.
ABG say they want to protect Presley’s brand by implementing the ban, but ruining people’s livelihood and wedding plans will surely do more harm than good for The King’s name.
