The thousands of couples who flock to Las Vegas each year to get married may soon have to scratch the ultimate Vegas VIP from their guest list: Elvis Presley – or at least his impersonators.

Last month, the firm that controls the Elvis brand sent cease-and-desist letters to multiple Elvis-themed chapels ordering them to stop using The King’s likeness in ceremonies, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Monday.

“Elvis weddings are 95% of what we do here,” Las Vegas Elvis Wedding Chapel co-owner Kayla Collins said by phone Wednesday as “Viva Las Vegas” could be overheard in the background. “Should anything happen to where I can’t do the Elvis thing anymore, that’s going to be huge.”

With the Las Vegas wedding industry only recently starting to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, the threat to the beloved and lucrative draw of Elvis-themed nuptials couldn’t come at a worse time, according to Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya, whose office issues marriage licenses and oversees the city’s marketing campaign for weddings.

“We’re coming back and we’re very excited about that. But obviously, we don’t need another hit right now,” Goya said Wednesday in reference to the letter. The warning has caused “confusion and consternation” among Elvis-themed wedding vendors.

“Some of these are very small businesses, some are much larger,” Goya said.

Collins said she knows of at least four other Elvis-themed wedding venues that received letters. Her other venue, the Little Chapel of Hearts, provides more traditional wedding services as well as Elvis-themed options but was not subject to a letter. Collins said her lawyer advised her to continue business as usual at both venues for the time being.

The business was just starting to get its stride back, but now Collins said her employees worried they could soon be out of a job.

“I’m not sure why some of us are being targeted and some of us aren’t, but I have a thought that the timing of these letters are kind of suspicious,” she said.

“Elvis,” the Baz Luhrmann-directed musical biopic, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last week and will open in the United States on June 24.

Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which sent the letters, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday when asked what prompted the sudden crackdown on Elvis-themed weddings. Since acquiring the full Elvis Presley intellectual property rights in 2013 for an undisclosed sum, the firm has wielded control over virtually every aspect of Elvis’s image, from album covers, TV appearances and themed events.

Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, told The Washington Post in April that Elvis’s publishing and licensing revenue continue to grow, and that in 2019, Graceland alone netted $12 million in merchandise and memorabilia sales.

Notably, the entertainment company that would later sell the Elvis IP rights to ABG took a hands-off approach to impersonators when it acquired the brand in 2006 opting to instead focus on unlicensed Elvis merchandise.

Intellectual property laws known as right of publicity vary from state to state, but they generally allow an individual or estate to sue someone who uses their name or likeness without consent for commercial gain, said Mary LaFrance, who teaches intellectual property law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

“Nevada’s statute has explicit protection for live performances – that’s why we have lots of celebrity impersonators in our entertainment business,” she said.

LaFrance has not reviewed the letter but said even a legal claim under the Lanham Act, the federal statute that governs copyright and unfair competition, appears weak or even frivolous.

“I don’t think anyone who sees Elvis impersonators at a wedding chapel actually think this is really endorsed or approved of” by the owners of Elvis’s estate,” she said.

ABG’s letter reminds LaFrance of “trademark trolling,” the practice of trying to register trademarks – often with no intention of using it – and suing those who use the trademark. Trademark trolls sometimes attempt to register popular words or phrases, or international domain URLs for major companies.

In a case of trademark trolls, what often happens is they don’t really expect to shut down the use of the trademark – in this instance, the wedding chapels – but hope to scare them into paying a settlement or licensing right, LaFrance said.

“They hope to avoid a court battle, and send scary C&D [cease-and-desist] letters to small businesses that operate on low margins who will wonder, ‘What’s it going to cost me to fight this in court versus pay a license fee?'” she said. “It’s a way to extract money from the chapels.”

Collins, the chapel owner, said ABG in its letter even demanded she hand over her domain, LasVegasElvisWeddingChapel.com.

“Suddenly they’re serving us these letters, and Elvis weddings have been a thing in Vegas for 40-plus years,” Collins said. Going to court would affect the livelihoods of chapel employees and auxiliary vendors like florists and caterers. A court battle would drain a business like hers financially, she said.

Ultimately, LaFrance said, Elvis’s enduring popularity could end up working against ABG in enforcing its legal claim.

When a celebrity becomes an icon or a cultural symbol, they’re more likely to be considered fair game for works of artistic expression, LaFrance said.

“And that’s when First Amendment protections become very strong,” she added.

“Elvis is more than his recordings, he’s a symbol of something uniquely American. He’s almost like Barbie,” LaFrance said.

The irony that Elvis staged his late-in-life comeback in Las Vegas is not lost on Collins. Elvis is part of the history and culture of Las Vegas, and in turn, Vegas businesses like hers are what help to keep his legacy alive.

“If it weren’t for us,” Collins said, “the younger generation wouldn’t know who he is.”

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