Memphis Development Foundation v. Factors Etc., Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
616 F.2d 956 (1980)
- Written by Sarah Hoffman, JD
Facts
While Elvis Presley was alive, the right to the commercial use of Elvis’s name and likeness was granted to Boxcar Enterprises, which was owned by Elvis, his manager, and the company’s president. After Elvis died, the rights were sold to Factors Etc., Inc. (defendant). Elvis’s father agreed to the sale on behalf of Elvis’s estate. Memphis Development Foundation (Memphis) (plaintiff) was a nonprofit that planned to erect a statue of Elvis in the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis solicited donations for the cost of the statute and gave small replicas of the proposed statute to people who donated. Memphis filed suit against Factors Etc. claiming that Factors Etc. had interfered with Memphis’s efforts to solicit contributions. Factors Etc. counterclaimed against Memphis. The trial court found in favor of Factors Etc., holding that it held an exclusive right to exploit and profit from Elvis’s name and likeness. The trial court held Memphis could build the statute but that it could not sell or distribute the replica statutes or profit commercially from Elvis’s name or likeness. Memphis appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Merritt, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 806,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
