Attorneys for the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince have been busy lately. Last month, the singer announced plans to sue YouTube for using his image and music without authorization. The video site quickly pulled a popular video featuring a baby dancing to the singer’s hit, “Let’s Go Crazy”.
That Mommy is now fighting back with her own lawsuit, claiming that the clip falls within the “fair use” policy. The lawsuit is still pending, although Prince’s representatives are requesting dismissal.
But the Purple Rain rocker didn’t stop there.
Now he’s sending “cease and desist” letters to a trio of fansites with demands that they immediately take down his images, cover art and lyrics. The diminutive artist’s hired legal guns, Web Sheriff, claim that many of the images are copyrighted to Prince himself, making the sites’ use of them illegal.
A spokesman for the fansites claim that Web Sheriff is going far beyond merely asking them to remove copyrighted images. The “cease and desist” letter also demands that the site’s owners disable code that allows users to enter “Prince” in the sites’ search boxes to find related information. Those demands aren’t sitting well with the site owners or other fans who’ve supported Prince throughout his prolific career.
One fan says the sites should now consider themselves “The Music Consumers Formerly Known as Prince Fans” and urges a boycott of the artist’s music, videos and movies.
This is what it sounds like when fans cry.
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