Here is the latest full detailed FTD newsletter sent to FTD sellers.

"Unfortunately Sony BMG’s legal department has informed us about several of you selling illegal records, and apparently there is more to come.

As the guilty ones know, it’s both unpleasant and expensive to be caught, and for the future there will be a ”no tolerance” policy. Any customer getting in trouble with the authorities on this issue will automatically be dropped by FTD.

One of the key reasons for the development of FTD was to give the fan clubs legal product to sell in order to substitute the sales of bootlegs that escalated in the nineties. Not only are these illegal activities potentially hurtful to your business, but they also put the whole future of FTD in jeopardy.

We have heard many absurd excuses over the years for selling product that wasn’t legal (Czech republic releases is just one example), but all of you are experienced Elvis dealers, and it is your responsibility to know if the product you are selling is legal or not.

As some will know, the so-called P.D. releases in many instances are not P.D. at all. Original masters recorded AND released more than 50 years ago are public domain (free for all), but masters and outtakes released within the 50-year period are not automatically P.D. Selling illegal P.D. recordings is exactly the same as selling bootlegs. Don’t let yourself down!!"


According to Elvis Presley Scrapbook posted on a forum:

Music Service Recording "New York RCA Studio 1: The Complete Sessions" .

The reason that HMV had stock problems distributing the latest Music Service Recording release was partly due to Sony/BMG's current zero tolerance campaign.

A friend of mine who works for the distribution company that was responsible for shipping the product to the HMV stores told me that he was aware that his management had been notified by Sony/BMG to cease the distribution on the M.R.S. product !


200711/20 FTD - Ernst Jorgensen / Elvis Presley Scrapbook / www.epgold.com