Las Vegas bills itself as the Wedding Capital of the World.

Issuing an average of 80,000 marriage licenses and generating $2.5 billion in economic activity annually, the Clark County Marriage License Bureau claims to be the “busiest in the world.” And after he married Priscilla at the Aladdin in 1967, Elvis Presley became something of a guardian angel—and frequent officiant—to couples looking to tie the knot in Sin City.

That the Presleys chose Las Vegas as their place of holy matrimony sealed Elvis’ careerlong connection to the city, which had begun even before his wedding here. During his 1956 residency at the New Frontier Hotel, he heard a rendition of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog,” which he turned into a global hit, with hip grinding and gyrations during his performance of the song on NBC.

Las Vegas latched onto the musician’s rise to fame, and the weddings and ancillary hospitality industries followed suit, with many chapels still embracing the legacy of Elvis-themed or Elvis-officiated weddings, today. But that tradition appeared to face a substantial threat in May, when Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which manages Elvis’ intellectual property, sent cease-and-desist letters to several local chapels, claiming unauthorized use and threatening legal action.

“Elvis services are a significant portion of our bookings,” says Michael Kelly, general manager of Downtown’s Little Vegas Chapel. “We get couples from all over the world—from the U.K., Australia, Spain … Just the excitement that they have, and the joy that they have to do an Elvis wedding is incredible.”

The Little Vegas Chapel performs more than 2,000 wedding ceremonies per year, Kelly says, 10% to 20% of which are Elvis weddings. Kelly confirms that, after the chapel received the initial cease-and-desist, ABG reached out again “to form a partnership.” The chapel has been in contact with ABG for the past several weeks regarding an agreement, he says.

Several chapels that received cease-and-desist letters, including Little Chapel of Hearts and Vegas Weddings, have since issued statements explaining that Elvis has not actually left the building. Shortly after the potential threat to Vegas Elvis weddings made news worldwide, ABG released a statement saying it was working on a more agreeable solution.

“ABG is proud to be the guardian of the Elvis Presley legacy and is committed to protecting it for generations to come,” the statement reads, in part. “We are sorry that recent communication with a small number of Las Vegas-based chapels caused confusion and concern. That was never our intention.We are working with the chapels to ensure that the usage of Elvis’ name, image and likeness are in keeping with his legacy.”

ABG did not respond to questions on the number of Las Vegas chapels that it sent cease-and-desist letters, the timeline for licensing agreements to be settled or the cost of the licenses.

Several local chapels have disclosed that the agreements entail licensing fees in the ballpark of $500 per year.

Kelly said the news came as a relief for Little Vegas Chapel staff, which had wondered if it might have to give up Elvis weddings entirely. “The cost to perform an Elvis wedding will increase, at least on our end,” he says. “We pay for the talent that’s involved, the Elvis tribute artist. And now it sounds like we’re going to have to pay some type of fee in addition to that. I’m just glad they were able to give us a reasonable offer.”

As for whether Elvis impersonators themselves could be subject to legal action, local intellectual property attorney Jonathan Fountain says they could seek protection under the First Amendment and Nevada law.

“The law recognizes a First Amendment parody defense to intellectual property infringement,” Fountain explains. “If someone is dressing up like Elvis and exaggerating his style for comedic effect, in performing a wedding, there’s a strong argument that that activity is protected First Amendment activity.”

As for the licensing agreements or “partnerships” ABG has reportedly been arranging with local chapels, “Licenses to intellectual property [have] to be in writing” to be legally binding, Fountain says. “I heard on the news that ABG had entered into a verbal agreement to Elvis’ intellectual property. … I think the chapels [also] need to be careful about their understanding of this word ‘partner,’ because I do think [they’ll have] to give up some rights and agree to pay some money.”

Fountain also says he suspects ABG has done “little to no” enforcement of Elvis’ intellectual property rights in the Vegas wedding industry for decades, which “dilutes the strength” of those rights. “You can’t sit on your rights for decades and not assert them, because people like the wedding chapels would suffer prejudice, [after] investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in their businesses,”

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