Back in October, filmmaker Jeff Krulik, who co-directed one of the most influential music documentaries of all time, Heavy Metal Parking Lot, was called to testify against Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the infamous White House party crashers, in a case over lost video footage starring the couple and the rock band Journey. The Salahis were suing for the missing original video and outtakes that were used to create the above embedded PSA.

Krulik, who is also well-known as a rock memorabilia expert, was called as an expert witness by a PR firm that was being sued by the Salahis for losing the footage. The set-up for the case is a bit complicated, but here’s the rundown:

The Salahis created a series of sporting events called America’s Polo Cup, the first of  which included a polo match between U.S. and British teams, followed by a concert performance by Journey. To promote the event, the Salahis had video shot that starred themselves and the band. They then turned that video over to PR firm Brotman Winter Fried Communications to create PSAs. While the PSAs were completed, the original raw footage was lost by the firm.

Claiming that the original video was an important part of rock history and a valuable collectors item, the Salahis sued Brotman Winter Fried Communications for $65,000. Krulik was then called upon by the PR firm to testify as an expert witness in rock memorabilia as to the video’s actual value, which in reality probably wouldn’t amount to all that much, if anything. Unfortunately, a judge threw the case out of court, so Krulik never got a chance to take the witness stand.

The Washington Post has some more info on this crazy story.

Jeff Krulik is currently at work directing the documentary Led Zeppelin Played Here.