Remnants of famous signs at the "Neon Boneyard" in Las Vegas, Nevada

The name Las Vegas was given to the area in 1829 by a Mexican scout named Richard, a member of the Antonio Armijo trading party that was traveling to Los Angeles, and stopped for water there. At that time, several parts of the valley contained artesian wells surrounded by extensive green areas. Las Vegas means the meadows in Spanish. On May 15, 1905, Las Vegas officially was founded as a city, when 110 acres (45 ha), in what would later become downtown, were auctioned to ready buyers. On July 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the appropriation bill for the Boulder Dam later renamed the Hoover Dam. Work started and Las Vegas' population swelled to 25,000, with most of the newcomers, mostly males, working on building the dam. It created a market for large scale entertainment. A combination of local Las Vegas business owners, Mormon financiers, and Mafia crime lords helped develop the casinos and showgirl theaters to entertain the largely male dam construction workers.

In 2015, documentary photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter from Getty Images accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website. It demanded payment of $120. This was how Highsmith came to learn that stock photo agencies Getty and Alamy had been sending similar threat letters and charging fees to users of her images, which she had donated to the Library of Congress for use by the general public at no charge. In 2016, Highsmith has filed a $1 billion copyright infringement suit against both Alamy and Getty stating “gross misuse” of 18,755 of her photographs. “The defendants [Getty Images] have apparently misappropriated Ms. Highsmith’s generous gift to the American people,” the complaint reads. “[They] are not only unlawfully charging licensing fees … but are falsely and fraudulently holding themselves out as the exclusive copyright owner.” According to the lawsuit, Getty and Alamy, on their websites, have been selling licenses for thousands of Highsmith’s photographs, many without her name attached to them and stamped with “false watermarks.” (more: http://hyperallergic.com/314079/photographer-files-1-billion-suit-against-getty-for-licensing-her-public-domain-images/)

• Binion's Horseshoe Casino sign at Neon Boneyard, Las Vegas ...
• Remnants of famous signs at the "Neon Boneyard" in Las Vegas ...
• Remnants of famous signs at the "Neon Boneyard" in Las Vegas ...
• Billiards player from the old Pocket Lounge, now consigned to the ...
• Binion's Horseshoe Casino sign at Neon Boneyard, Las Vegas ...
• 605 Neon lights Images: PICRYL - Collections - GetArchive
• 23 Boneyard Images - LOC's Public Domain Archive - GetArchive
• 135 Neon lights Images - LOC's Public Domain Archive - GetArchive
• 605 Neon lights Images: PICRYL - Public Domain Media Search ...
• See old Las Vegas in neon & lights, the way the city used to be