The estate of Elvis Presley has won an injunction against US company Passport Video which will stop them selling their eight-DVD collection ‘The Definitive Elvis’. The estate claim the collection includes copyrighted performances, such as appearances Presley made on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and ‘The Steve Allen Show’, as well as making unlicensed use of Elvis songs ‘Jailhouse Rock’ and ‘Loving You’.
Talking about the decision Andrew Solt of SOFA Entertainment, which owns the rights to ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ told reporters: "We, with the estate of Elvis Presley and the songwriters of some of Elvis’ songs, have won an important battle against those who believe they can simply hijack our intellectual property while demonstrating total disdain for the law.”
Passport’s attorney Michael R. Blaha says the company plans to appeal. "Over 99% of 'The Definitive Elvis' consists of original footage created and owned by Passport International, including over 230 interviews which Passport conducted over a two-year period. Moreover, Passport made very limited, transformative, and we think under the law, fair use of the remaining less than 1% that constitutes [the alleged] copyrighted material. For the estate of Elvis Presley to describe Passport's use of their material as 'unlawful' or 'piracy' under these circumstances is ludicrous and ignores the important First Amendment considerations present here."