Michael Jackson estate seeks to shut down Vegas casino tribute show
Michael Jackson's estate has threatened to cancel plans for a long-running tribute show in Las Vegas. But Tropicana’s “MJ Live” producers believe they can do it.
Lawyers for the tribute show filed a lawsuit in Nevada federal court this week asking a judge to allow them to continue the show, which runs six nights a week at the Tropicana Hotel.
According to court documents, the Jackson estate claims that the show used Jackson's likeness in its advertising without permission, in addition to using a trademark owned by the Jackson estate.
The show's Tropicana staging isn't the problem, however. Nevada law allows "impersonators to use a celebrity's likeness during live performances." The Jackson estate simply wants to stop the show's current plans to tour California, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin.
As for the advertising, lawyers for the show's producers claimed that the artwork they used to sell tickets was unique and would not cause confusion among the public.
Who is the bad guy?
Lawyers for the show's producers noted that the show has been performed more than 3,600 times since 2012, most recently at the Strat in front of the Tropicana. However, the hotel only recently began issuing cease-and-desist orders.
By using the name "MJ Live" for so long, the producers claimed that the show had laid claim to its "own" rights, when in fact it was actually "the estate of Michael Jackson" who was currently infringing "their" intellectual property rights. At the same time, he toured the United States with a stage show called "MJ The Musical".
"Over the past eleven and a half years...Plaintiff has spent millions of dollars on advertising and publicity for his MJ Live performances," MJ Live's attorneys wrote. "Plaintiff estimates that more than 2,500,000 audience members applauded from their seats. , sang, jumped and danced in the aisles and experienced the joy, excitement and excitement of 'MJ Live'."
Jackson estate attorney Jonathan Steinsapir offered the following rebuttal:
"This lawsuit - which includes claims that this copycat show somehow owns the 'trademark' for 'MJ,' which is a trademark owned by Michael Jackson's estate and has long been associated with Michael and his legacy - is utterly frivolous "As always, the Estate will vigorously defend all of Michael Jackson's intellectual property rights."
This isn't the first time the legendary singer's estate has tried to crack down on imposters in Vegas. In May 2022, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns Elvis' likenesses, sent cease-and-desist letters to several churches, requiring their Elvis impersonators to obtain ABG's permission in order to "preserve" Presley's legacy.
No lawsuit was filed because a month later, several churches agreed to pay an undisclosed annual license fee that was believed to be less than what ABG originally requested.
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Source: www.casino.org
