Elvis Presley of friends with whom Presley constantly surrounded himself until his death came to be known as the "Memphis Mafia". "Surrounded by the[ir] parasitic presence", as journalist John Harris puts it, "it was no wonder that as he slid into addiction and torpor, no-one raised the alarm: to them, Elvis was the bank, and it had to remain open." Tony Brown, who played piano for Presley regularly in the last two years of Presley's life, observed his rapidly declining health and the urgent need to address it: "But we all knew it was hopeless because Elvis was surrounded by that little
Elvis Presley Enterprises the sixties, and had been a typical suburban strip shopping center. However, after Elvis' death, it became filled with Elvis souvenir shops, which carried mostly bootleg items not licensed by the Presley Estate. In 1993, Graceland purchased the property and all the shops and attractions in what is now known as Graceland Plaza are owned and operated by EPE. By the mid-1980s EPE was interested in securing the rights to Elvis' image and intellectual property. Following many court cases against business and private parties, EPE helped to push through new copyright and trademark legislation in the United States. In 1991,