Prince Sues YouTube

[EL the Famous]

Prince to sue Youtube, eBay over music use

By Mike Collett-White

 

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. pop star Prince plans to sue YouTube and other major Web sites for unauthorized 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 on Thursday 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 unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success," a statement released on his behalf said.

 

YouTube did not immediately reply to questions e-mailed to its press room.

 

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.

 

The legal action is the latest bid by the music industry to wrest back control over content in an age where file sharing, mobile phones and video sites make enforcing copyright increasingly difficult.

 

But it is believed to be rare for an individual artist of Prince's stature to take on popular Web sites, while some up-and-coming performers actually encourage online file sharing to create a fan base and buzz around a record.

 

"Prince strongly believes artists as the creators and owners of their music need to reclaim their art," the statement added.

 

"These actions mark a historic moment for music artists in terms of the battle to regain control of their rights on the Internet."

 

British company Web Sheriff has been hired to help coordinate the action.

 

"In the last couple of weeks we have directly removed approximately 2,000 Prince videos from YouTube," said Web Sheriff managing director John Giacobbi.

 

"The problem is that one can reduce it to zero and then the next day there will be 100 or 500 or whatever. This carries on ad nauseam at Prince's expense," he told Reuters.

 

He said his company had also removed around 300 items from eBay, where whole lines of pirated goods trading on Prince's name had appeared, including clocks, socks, mugs and key rings.

 

Prince's latest initiative is likely to please record industry executives and music retailers, who have not always seen eye-to-eye with the 49-year-old.

 

He has referred to the record industry as "the speculation business" and gave away copies of his new album "Planet Earth" for free with a British Sunday newspaper.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Ebay?

[Atticus]

[the carlos]

that guy looks more like Little Richard than Prince. Well Little Richard holding a replica of Prince's guitar.

[a.miller]

that guy looks more like Little Richard than Prince. Well Little Richard holding a replica of Prince's guitar.

I figured it was a halloween costume.

[boywiththorninside]

Damn. They already pulled the "Prince/James Brown/Michael Jackson all on one stage" clip.

[Scalzunfield]

Never a fan of his lame music.

 

Now I have a good reason to dislike him as well.

 

Is he really running out of money?

[chisoxjtrain]

that guy looks more like Little Richard than Prince. Well Little Richard holding a replica of Prince's guitar.

 

i think thats fred armisen from snl

[the carlos]

Mr. Gymkata,

 

Sorry my comments about that guy in the picture have taken stolen some of the thunder of your fine thread. Whew how about that Prince guy and his lawsuitish/thuggish ways.

 

Respect,

 

Cobra Kai Sensei John Kreese

[mpolak21]

i think thats fred armisen from snl

 

. Also of I Am Trying To Break Your Heart fame.

 

--Mike

[Sir Stewart]

Prince should sue me for my daily shower medley of "Little Red Corvette/Kiss."

[mjpuczko]

Never a fan of his lame music.

 

Now I have a good reason to dislike him as well.

 

Is he really running out of money?

 

i can see not liking him. but lame music? come on. guy's a talented (albeit complete asshole) musician

[Scalzunfield]

i can see not liking him. but lame music? come on. guy's a talented (albeit complete asshole) musician

 

I just still cannot figure out the draw. Maybe it's due to the fact that all I ever hear anymore are 1999 and Little Red Corvette and I'm sure those aren't an accurate representation of his entire catalog, but they sure don't inspire me to check out more. In fact, they have what has become known as the "Hey There Delilah" effect on me: songs so mediocre and overplayed, I want to never hear of the band/singer again.

 

I do dig the song Purple Rain alright and enjoyed that part of the Super Bowl halftime performance, but that's about the end of things for me with Prince. I heard most of his most recent album from someone at work and it wasn't quite vomit-inducing, but it was a pretty rough listen.

 

And great musicians make lame music all the time.

[Atticus]

Prince should sue me for my daily shower medley of "Little Red Corvette/Kiss."

 

I would appreciate a PM with YSI link.

 

Thank you,

 

A. Poongoogler

[deepseacatfish]

I'd watch out posting that picture of Fred Armisen, you might get sued, artists gotta reclaim their control on the internet.

 

 

 

Seriously. I can't stand Purple Rain, but I do think Prince is a good performer and has some decent stuff. But really, if it's not You-Tube it's going to be somewhere else. The internet is evolving faster than people can lay clear controls and claims on it. If Prince wanted to "reclaim" this material the best move would probably be to post very high quality copies of it on his own website (maybe even at a charge or to people in a fan club) or to create a video compilation for people to buy, some would some wouldn't. You-Tube will comply now and bring down Prince material, in a couple weeks it'll be back up, or somewhere else. Either people are going to pay extra for better quality (if it's available) or they just won't care.