# Elvises everywhere! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362 "2010-02-25T04:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/1 "2010-02-25T04:27:55Z")
Do Elvis (and other celeb) impersonators have to pay royalties for their acts? And my real question, if one, a really really good one, writes and sings an original song in “the style and voice” of Elvis Presley, doing it so well that he could easily pass, is he in violation of any law? Some of these guys are _very_ good at what they do. I think that one or two could make a record using the technology of the time that would be very hard to prove wasn’t a “lost” original. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/2 "2010-02-25T12:01:19Z")
No, there is no royalty payable on impersonation _per se_, although there will almost certainly be royalties due on any music played or performed during the performance. As to the second part, if the product is sold honestly, as the work of an impersonator, then no laws are being broken. If the product is sold dishonestly, such as pretending it’s a long-forgotten recording of the real Elvis, then yes, this contravenes all sorts of laws pertaining to trading and how goods are described and sold. In basic terms, it’s illegal to sell something as if it’s something it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/3 "2010-02-25T14:38:14Z")
Proper term is Elvii (Civ II reference). ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/4 "2010-02-25T14:55:02Z")
Requisite Mojo Nixon video: [Elvis is Everywhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ueTFT5eek) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/5 "2010-02-25T15:00:19Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > No, there is no royalty payable on impersonation _per se_, although there will almost certainly be royalties due on any music played or performed during the performance. In most public venues – bars, night clubs, etc. – the royalties are payed by the venue, not the performer. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/6 "2010-02-26T02:26:51Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Requisite Mojo Nixon video: [Elvis is Everywhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ueTFT5eek) I love that stupid song. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/7 "2010-02-26T03:50:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Proper term is Elvii (Civ II reference). Did Sid Meier actually use such bad Latin, or did that come from the fans? “Elvii” would be the plural of “Elvius”, whoever that is. According to the standard Latin patterns, the plural of “Elvis” would be “Elves” (pronounced with two syllables, roughly like “El ways”). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/8 "2010-02-26T23:58:05Z")
Considering that “octopuses” is now okay, it follows that “Elvises” would also be okay. I always hated saying “octopi”, but Sister Mary Christopher made me. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/9 "2010-02-27T00:16:39Z")
Bad on Sister Mary Christopher, then. “Octopi” would be the correct way of forming the plural, if “octopus” were a Latin word, but being as it’s actually Greek, the classical plural is “octopodes”. Of course, if you’re using it as an English word, then it’s also perfectly permissible to form the plural according to the English rules, and get “octopuses”. To sum up: Using the English plural is OK, and using a foreign plural is OK as long as you get it right, but using a foreign plural and getting it wrong is the worst of both worlds, as it makes you look both pretentious and uneducated. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/10 "2010-02-27T15:32:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Bad on Sister Mary Christopher, then. “Octopi” would be the correct way of forming the plural, if “octopus” were a Latin word, but being as it’s actually Greek, the classical plural is “octopodes”. Of course, if you’re using it as an English word, then it’s also perfectly permissible to form the plural according to the English rules, and get “octopuses”. > > To sum up: Using the English plural is OK, and using a foreign plural is OK as long as you get it right, but using a foreign plural and getting it wrong is the worst of both worlds, as it makes you look both pretentious and uneducated. SMC held dominion over me in the mid 1960s, and I’m pretty sure “octopi” was the accepted term back then and for many years afterward. It’s only in the last couple decades or so that I’ve noticed the increasing popular use of “octopuses”. I sure hope that the really cool sounding “octopod” works it’s way into the American vernacular. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/11 "2010-02-28T01:09:18Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Requisite Mojo Nixon video: [Elvis is Everywhere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ueTFT5eek) Thank you, I came into this thread because it was calling out for some “Mojo”. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elvises-everywhere/530362/12 "2010-02-28T18:27:22Z")
Back to the OP. I believe other than paying royalties on any original song, an Elvis impersonator would have no problem singing a new, original song in the Elvis style without having to pay any royalties.