Prince to sue Youtube & eBay

[Guchi_Jnr]

US pop star Prince plans to sue YouTube and other major websites for unauthorised use of his music in a bid to "reclaim his art on the internet".
The man behind hit songs Purple Rain, 1999 and When Doves Cry said today that YouTube could not argue that it had no control over which videos users posted on its site.

"YouTube ... are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorised music and film content which is core to their business success," a statement released on his behalf said.

In addition to YouTube, Prince also plans legal action against online auctioneer eBay and Pirate Bay, a site accused by Hollywood and the music industry as being a major source of music and film piracy.


I can fully understand when artists get pissed at filesharing, since a lot of it is "perfect" copies...ie..lossless, ISOs and even the big bitrate rips can, and do, take sales away for them...But YouTube?!?! 

Guess he needs to do something to get him back in the headlines, since he hasn't released anything decent in 20years....he probably blames the internet for that too...

:runs and hides from Tuffy:

[RatBastich]

Gotta wonder if he's really doing this cause he wants to, or maybe he's being egged on by those same record companies.
The one's who fight against the continued advances and new ways, like the internet, that allow content to get to millions worldwide instantly, are the one's who feel themselves teetering on the brink of extinction, and refuse to adapt and grow to the new possibilities that have presented themselves in the form of the internet and online distribution.
Those that can't adapt tend to fall by the wayside and fade out.

Prince really doesn't have to this, all the music and videos are already archived by those record companies, and what others upload to sites like youtube come from their collections that they spent money on, which of course helped to make all those mega-millions and make Prince rich and set for life.

Like I had already said, maybe he's not doing this because he wants to, it could be a direct correlation to what those record companies want, and they wanted a big name star to be their front on this.

Guess he needs to do something to get him back in the headlines, since he hasn't released anything decent in 20years....he probably blames the internet for that too...

QFT~!!!!

[Tuffty]

^ Oh you two are dead men

As a Prince fan, I will say this. It IS frustrating being one sometimes. As a test, enter Prince in Youtube and tell me how many results you get back from a man who's career has spanned 30 years with 48 albums. Even those videos that do appear are practically gone the next day. He's even sued his own fansites over their content.

But Prince is just soo protective over his own work and never been one to conform. I think it was during the early years of this decade that his website was regularly voted the best belonging to any musician. Sharing unheard music, videos etc. Then one day out of the blue, he decides to shut it down. Hell, Prince was one of the first to predict how the internet would affect the music industry the way it has today. Hell, he literally gave away his latest album for free here in the UK.  And I know this isn't from the word of record companies, but from the man himself. He is working alone, only working with particular record companies whenever he wants to release a commercial album.

But this really isn't about lost revenues, is it?

This is about control and power over one's image, including things like the Super Bowl or Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that he will never own. Prince is essentially powerless when it comes to that. He'll lose this whole case, of that there's no doubt, and he'll be crushed, but then claim it as a victory for artists when YouTube and others start doing the same thing they've always done (removing videos from their site just as soon as they figure out there is a copyright issue). But he certainly has a right to do whatever he pleases with what he owns, including hiding it from the prying eyes of the public if he so chooses. Prince is asking for all copyright material to be removed, which by law is a fair request. Who knows once this material is removed, he might actually release official tour videos (if there are any, please, please, please let there be London 07!!).

Yes it is a shame that Prince doesn't decide to embrace the net more. It alienates new fans from discovering the genius, and the old fans who want to share the love. But I don't think it's over money. It's about image control. The Prince of today is different to that of 80's Prince. He is a current Jehovah's Witness after all. He probably wants to put his controversial, raunchy past behind him, and from others, as utterly futile as that is. The only ones that get hurt from this is the fans.

[mckool]

well...um...

knew he'd do it sooner or later.  I hang around a forum that's dedicated to all things related to him.  Used to be able see alot of boot vids/clips there, etc., but his-purple-highness basically forced the site to take it all off  , so i wouldn't be suprise if P decided to strick again..

maybe he's still 'old school' when it comes to the way music is enjoyed/distributed/promoted/marketed/etc..., and not only into the good old-school funk 

Good luck fighting the WORLD, P 

[mckool]

Guess he needs to do something to get him back in the headlines, since he hasn't released anything decent in 20years....he probably blames the internet for that too...

:runs and hides from Tuffy:

can't really agreed with that though, if you count the 'unofficial' releases and material.  If you're just counting the 'regular albums' that's released on the public, then yes....but hey, how do most ppl got those 'rare' material??  we're back to ground zero again

[Tuffty]

Prince has taken legal action against fan websites that print images bearing his likeness.

The veteran rock star's lawyers even asked sites such as housequake.com, princefans.com and prince.org to remove pictures of fans' tattoos featuring the musician's image.

However, all three sites have formed a group called 'Prince Fans United' and are challenging the 'Purple Rain' singer's demands, claiming it infringes their freedom of speech.

Oh, well I don't have a tattoo of him, and I certainly wouldn't post it on the net, so I'm laughing! In all seriousness though, I presume people would think that I'd be in outrage cause I'm a Prince fan, but I'm really not. I only really got into Prince at a time when finding images or music of him on the net would be next to impossible anyway, so I've still managed to be a fan of his music anyway. And that's the most important thing to remember I think. His music. People will tell you that Axl Rose was a selfish, demanding asshole, but that didn't stop him from being one of the greatest frontmen in rock. So long as Prince continues to make funky, beautiful music I will be a happy man. Perhaps he'll even find an outlet to release new music or videos. Take this for example, his newest song 'PFUnk':

http://www.princefansunited.com/

Ain't gonna hear that anywhere else. AND IT IS FUNKY!! Seriously, any other Prince fans just hearing about this news, just listen to the song, with Camille vocals and all, and you'll recognise why the man's a genius and all will be forgiven.

[A1]

I love his music but not his personality.

[redux]

Well I guess he's right to do it since it is his music after all but still...if it wasn't for the Internet I wouldn't own half of the CD's I do today and therefore the companies wouldn't have made any profit from me at all. Meh, works both ways I guess.