ABOUT ELVIS PRESLEY:
Video Courtesy of BIO
LEGAL ISSUE AROUSE AFTER HIS DEATH:
In Elvis Presley Enterprises vs. Elvisly Yours INC., (936 F.2nd 889) the plaintiff Elvis Presley Enterprises appealed the denial of appeals the denial of a preliminary injunction against Elvisly Yours, Ltd., a corporation of England, Elvisly Yours, Inc. and Sid Shaw for trademark infringement and unfair competition.
Shaw relies on the decision of this court in Memphis Dev. Found. v. Factors Etc., Inc., 616 F.2d 956 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 953 (1980), holding that no descendible right of publicity exists in Tennessee that would give EPE the exclusive right to control all uses of Presley’s name and likeness. The District Court did not address the issue of the descendibility of the right of publicity other than to note that Shaw relied on the “law of this Circuit” in contesting that right. The Court of Appeals of Tennessee (Middle Section at Nashville) has now declared that a celebrity’s right to publicity was and is descendible under the common law of Tennessee. The Tennessee court expressly rejected our holding in Memphis Development. In a diversity case we may not reject a ruling on state law by an appellate court of the state unless there is an indication that the state’s highest court would decide otherwise. West v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., 311 U.S. 223 (1940); Coleman v. Western Elec. Co., 671 F.2d 980 (1982). We can find no indication here that it would. Our Court in Memphis Development did not rely on any Tennessee cases, but reached its decision based on a discussion of policy and equity. The Tennessee Court of Appeals refused to accept that analysis.
The action is REMANDED to the District Court for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion and in light of the Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in in State ex rel. Elvis Presley Int’l Memorial Fund v. Crowell, No. 86-99-II (Tenn. Ch. App. April 3, 1987).
This case seems not to be the only one case aroused due to preliminary injunction violation.
According to Wikipedia, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) is a corporate entity created by “The Elvis Presley Trust” to conduct business and manage its assets, including Graceland. EPE’s business extends far beyond the Graceland operation, however, and includes worldwide licensing of Elvis-related products and ventures, the development of Elvis-related music, film, video, television and stage productions, the ongoing development of EPE’s Internet presence, the management of significant music publishing assets and more. After Elvis’ death on August 16, 1977 at Graceland, his will appointed his father, Vernon Presley, as executor and trustee. The beneficiaries of the trust were Vernon, Elvis’ grandmother Minnie Mae Presley, and his nine-year-old daughter Lisa Marie Presley. After Vernon’s death in 1979, Elvis’ ex-wife Priscilla Presley, as Lisa Marie‘s legal guardian, began comanaging the trust along with the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis, which was the bank Elvis and Vernon had done business with, and Joseph Hanks, who had been Elvis and Vernon’s accountant for a number of years,[1] and formed EPE in 1979.[2] With Minnie Mae’s passing in 1980, Lisa Marie became the only surviving beneficiary named in Elvis’s will.” (Wikipedia 2013)
In this case, min argument came from the fact, that at the stage of this case, the State of Tenseness had relied on precedents of the circuit of the court. The Court of Appeals stated that celebrity’s right to publicity was and is descendible under the common law of Tennessee. Lisa Marie Presley became an Executor of the trust in the young age, and the defendant tried to prove tat Lisa is not capable of making a decision of who owns the legal rights to the intangible property left Levis Presley.
Because Elvis’s will includes many of residuary disposition, some of the rules of deposition of his properties are not still clear. This uncleanliness caused many lawsuit regarding the ownership of the properties of Elvis’s.
I would say when we draft wills, we should advise our clients to specify as specific as possible about the deposition of the properties. In addition, we should encourage our clients to make sure to not to give much power to the executor. When the executors have too much freedom in their ability to make a decision, it may create legal conflicts. The power of the executor should be limited and specified because of above reason.
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley_Enterprises
REFLECTION ON ELVIS’S ESTATE PLAN IN HIS WILL:
Item IV (b) of Elvis’s reads that “the Trustee is authorizes to accumulate the net income and such portion of the principal at any time and from time to time ti time for health, education, support, comfortable maintenance and welfare of: (4) such other relatives of mine living at the time of my death who in the absolite discretion of my Trustees are in need of emergency assistance for any of the above mentioned purposes and the Trustee is able to make such distribution without affection the ability of the trust to meet the present needs of the first three numbered categories of beneficiaries herein mentioned.”
I am very happy to find out that Elvis is very generous and care about any of his relatives who are in need of assistance. But this created and will create lawsuits to challenge the trustees in terms of the right to the payment of the income from the principal.
In addition to it, Elvis did not created trusts for the purpose of disposition of his properties in his will. According to an article written by a Japanese woman, Elvis’s net worth was about 10 million Dollars. But after the payment of his probate, the amount of the money that was disposed to his issues was only about 27% from 10 million Dollars.
This is due to the fact that Elvis’s will was lacking the estate planning.
I believe that 20% of 10 Million is still a lot of money, but there may have been some beneficiaries who would have benefited from the money which had gone for the taxes and fee for the preparation of probate. I found it very sad.
Well, but his legacy is priceless and it will inherited for free for the end of the earth, for sure.
Yoko Bei, Keylime Newletters, January 2010, http://keylimenewsletters.com/2010/01/estate-planing.html
I AM PROVING HERE WHY ELVIS IS A LEGEND:
Elvis was an influenced by and gave influence to many R&B music and artists. Love me tender was re-recorded not only by industry’s giants like Barbara Streisand and Frank Sinatra, but also by many R&B artists including legendary BB.King, Nat King Cole, The Platters, James Brown and Johnny Mathis. (Based on contents from Wikipedia)
Video Courtesy of Dev P
Not only girls, but also boys were crazy over Elvis!
Video Courtesy of Iconic
Properties Elvis gained during his lifetime.
Video Courtesy of rockinscot67
16 years old Elvis impersonator! “Clear and Convincing” evidence that Elvis was a legend and true King of Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Video Courtesy of Barbara Labelle
MY FINAL THOUGHTS:
It was a pleasure to get to know about Elvis Presley. To me, the image of Elvis was a fat and sleazy guy making a bombastic action on stage. After given an opportunity of reading and analyzing his will, I realized that, in contrast to my images I have had since child hood, Elvis was very generous, tender, benevolent and gracious man who loved his family and his kids.
Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy our blogs!
