Elvis Presley Enterprises v. Bud Glass Productions (2011)

Case 4:11-cv-00050RH-WCS (N.D. Fla., 2011)

In this case, Elvis Presley Enterprises filed a copyright/trademark action accusing Bud Glass Productions, a video distributor, of wilfully engaging in infringing activity consisting of the manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion and sale of a CD/DVD box set entitled, Elvis 77 – The Final Curtain.

This particular box set, included the 1977 CBS Special, Elvis in Concert, which Elvis’ estate has refused to publish (though it was privately made available to members of the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain a few years ago). In addition to Elvis in Concert, the set included content from other shows filmed in 1977, excerpts of which were included in Elvis in Concert.

Elvis Presley Enterprises has proven to be very protective over this last period of Elvis’ career, having stated:

Because of the severity of Elvis’ health problems at the time the special was shot, Elvis was far from his best in the way he looked and the way he performed …. There just simply is no way to get it [the footage] only to the real fans (and we’ve exhausted all kinds of ideas) without also having Elvis served up to the general public and press for ridicule. They already emphasize and exaggerate the tragedy and sadness of the last years of his life too much.

This case was part of a group of legal actions that Elvis Presley Enterprises initiated against “a global bootleg ring”, which also includes a case against Joseph Pirzada in the Chancery Division of the High Court, England and Wales.

The case against Bud Glass Productions, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, was eventually settled out of court. Details of this settlement are available below in the Consent Order.

Below, you will also find an email that Bud Glass sent directly to PresLaw in which he gives his side of the story.


Related Links

 


CONSENT ORDER


Consent Order

 


STIPULATION OF DISMISSAL OF CLAIMS


Stipulation of Dismissal of Claims

 


ORDER OF DISMISSAL


Order of Dismissal

 


CLERK’S JUDGMENT


Clerk's Judgment

 


EMAIL ABOUT THIS CASE FROM BUD GLASS


This is an exact copy of an email written by Bud Glass and sent to PresLaw July 19, 2018. It expresses Bud’s side of the story and is presented here exactly as written:

EPE wrongfully raided my home because of bad Intel from an email they misinterpreted. They wrongly assumed I was a part of a bootleg production business. they came to my house specifically looking for 1500 copies of a production that they thought that I had. They confiscated my personal copy and one other copy that I had for a friend. The email in question said that the production was limited to 1500 copies, manufactured by the producer in Europe. When EPEs attorney specifically asked where the 1500 copies were as they searched my home, garage and tool shed, I explained to him that he misread the email that he used as his sole evidence against me. I saw the color run out of his face as he realized they had made a big mistake in assuming that I was a part of the production of the final curtain Elvis box set, and realized I had no part in this set that was produced and released in Europe.

To save face after the false news that they had already released about me being a part of this alleged bootleg ring -they could not just drop the case against me for fear of a countersuit.

They attempted to scare me into believing that I was in violation and went on to give me an example of somebody who illegally downloaded a single song from the internet and was ordered to pay a large fine. I told them that I would easily win in court because I have done nothing wrong and I’ve never been in trouble with the law in any way and they basically extorted me by saying that I could not compete against EPEs deep pockets and slew of lawyers. They threatened turn my life upside down by holding me up in court four years costing me more money in court costs and legal fees than it would cost just to settle with them for a smaller amount and let it all go away. They also attempted to get items from my Elvis museum in lieu of payment to them. In retrospect I should have fought them in court simply because they were wrong and they knew it. Also because the fact that they filed a suit against me even though the charges were dropped has not stopped the news on the internet from reporting that they in fact filed the lawsuit against me – without the rest of the world knowing the actual facts, including their mistake in thinking that I had 1500 copies and was in any way a part of this or any illegal production. Their agenda was to send a strong message, regardless of whether I was even in-fact guilty of that which they accused me. Instead they resorted to extortion to cover their own mistake. More ironically is the fact that that I have first hand information from close friends of whom EPE has taken their material and used it for profit without their permission which is the exact thing in which they we’re wrongfully accusing me. When this individual who actually work for Elvis flew to Graceland because Graceland said they would pay for what they already used and work out an arrangement for future use…. after he arrived, Graceland informed him that they knew they were wrong and he was right- but they knew that he could not afford to fight their lawyers in court…. Something very similar to the extortion they used against me several years later.

It is bad enough that innocent people like myself are made to look like criminals because only half of the facts are published online, but what the general public doesn’t always know is the rest of the story which is the purpose for this email.

Someone can wrongfully go out and file a child pedophilia claim for example, against someone at Gracelands corporate office. The case can later be dropped because there was no evidence whatsoever of it being true…. But there will always be a record that Mr X had charges brought against him for this disgusting crime that he never did. No one will dig further to find the truth and all they will ever know is what the internet says about the allegations and charges against them and they will be left to their own imagination as to the character of that person based on a false accusation. That is the real danger of what sites like this does with information about people and their names and what they were accused of without knowing the actual facts.

if you are truly an unbiased website then I challenge you to post this comment underneath the information that you placed about me on your website. Then go to every person whom you have posted information about lawsuits against them and give them a fair chance to tell the actual facts and not just what EPE wants people to know.


Note from PresLaw: Anyone mentioned in any of the lawsuits featured on this site is welcome to leave a comment in the Comments box at the bottom of each page in order to express their side of the story, or their view of events, etc.

We also post just the actual facts of the cases, mostly from actual court documents, and we have no relationship whatsoever with Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE). We have never contacted EPE or been contacted by EPE.

2 Comments

  1. i myself have recieved with a cease and desist order by EPE over some video footage i posted on youtube .

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