Prince Suing Fans

Morning Star

Well-Known Member
Prince, the musical artist with a strong cult following, has been around for a long time and delivering music to really give people a reason to stay alive and keep in comfort. And now, he's suing 22 people...


Pop icon Prince is suing fans who posted his live performances on Facebook or blogs - to the tune of £605,000 each.

The "Purple Rain" singer filed a copyright lawsuit on 16 January in the Northern District of California, targeting 22 individuals he believes have committed "massive infringement and bootlegging" of his copyright.

Prince, real name Prince Rogers Nelson, has named just two of the defendants by their real names - Dan Chodera and Karina Jindrova. The remaining 20 are referenced only as 'Doe', bar eight who are indicated by their website titles. Monikers such as PurpleKissTwo and FunkyExperienceFour suggest the content, some of which dates back to 1983, is aimed at Prince’s most dedicated fans.

"Defendants rely on either Google's Blogger platform or Facebook, or both, to accomplish their unlawful activity," court papers read. "Rather than publishing lawful content to their blogs, they typically publish posts that list all the songs performed at a certain Prince live show and then provide a link to a file sharing service where unauthorized copies of the performance can be downloaded."

Prince's lawyers claim to have discovered more than 363 illicit links on one website alone, which he says will "continue to cause substantial, immediate and irreparable injury" that cannot be adequately remedied through the courts.

The music legend is an experienced piracy fighter, having sued or attempted to sue those who use his material without permission multiple times in the past.

In 2007, he filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against The Pirate Bay in the US, France and Sweden but this time, he has bypassed file-sharing websites to sue the fans who share links on social media instead.

Members of online fan community prince.org seem largely unsupportive of their idol's latest legal mission. "Is this a joke? What a black day in Prince history," one user wrote, while another said: "Crazy guy. Not like he needs the money either, he's loaded!"

A strong opposer of digital distribution, Prince famously stated his belief that "the internet is completely over" in 2010. He regularly forces video streaming websites such as YouTube and Vine to take down fan-uploaded footage of his concerts.

Just last week, Prince revealed plans for a brief run of shows in London next month, ahead of the release of his new album, Plectrum Electrum.
 
Prince, the musical artist with a strong cult following, has been around for a long time and delivering music to really give people a reason to stay alive and keep in comfort. And now, he's suing 22 people...


If I were Prince, I would not do that. But, it's his music and his performances. If he doesn't want them posted, his fans should respect it and not do so. If they do, then his only recourse is to sue and try to discourage them from doing it in the future. They really leave him no choice.
 
James Brown definitely did not want any of his fans recording any of his shows. If he looked into the audience and saw a person with a camera other than an approved camera operator, he would simply ask that person not to record his show. He would stop the show to until the camera was shut off. A lot of performers do not like this practice because each live stage concert/show is a copyrighted show. Some theaters don't even allow people to use their smartphones to record a show. I think if you are going to record a show, do so with the intention of your enjoyment. Putting footage or a whole performance without the artist's permission is not cool. These artists want their shows to be as protected as their songs.
 
Not mad @ Prince.

Besides the copyright infringement, if you are constantly on your phone, taking pics, videos, tweeting and facebooking the whole time, it's distracting you from enjoying being in the moment, taking away from the whole experience in general. I'm sure it's distracting to the artist on stage, as well.
 
I hate the idea of suing fans and Prince already has a rep as being kinda intolerant to his work being put up on the web. But I can't blame the guy for this.

Music "consumers" already kill the industry by getting the music they like through means which does not involve paying for it. When artists understandably object and state that they are losing out on their proper earnings, the response that they too often get is "oh, just make your money on tours and stop whining" (as if artists shouldn't expect to make their money through tours AND music sales as they used to in the recent past). So, fine a singer puts on a tour and hopes to generate cash through ticket sales. Then he learns that his performance has been recorded and put online for free consumption, which could lead to less tickets sold for actual concerts.


We are becoming a society that is entitled in as far as our consumption of products. We don't want to pay for newspapers so we object when newspapers start asking for fees when people read their contents online. We don't want to pay for cable so we find illegal ways to stream or download (torrents) television programming. We do the same for movies and music too.
 
I hate the idea of suing fans and Prince already has a rep as being kinda intolerant to his work being put up on the web. But I can't blame the guy for this.

Music "consumers" already kill the industry by getting the music they like through means which does not involve paying for it. When artists understandably object and state that they are losing out on their proper earnings, the response that they too often get is "oh, just make your money on tours and stop whining" (as if artists shouldn't expect to make their money through tours AND music sales as they used to in the recent past). So, fine a singer puts on a tour and hopes to generate cash through ticket sales. Then he learns that his performance has been recorded and put online for free consumption, which could lead to less tickets sold for actual concerts.


We are becoming a society that is entitled in as far as our consumption of products. We don't want to pay for newspapers so we object when newspapers start asking for fees when people read their contents online. We don't want to pay for cable so we find illegal ways to stream or download (torrents) television programming. We do the same for movies and music too.

You make some excellent points, but @ the bolded part.. or it could lead to more sales. For example, how many times have I seen a performer's act on YT or FB and been blown away, deciding if I get the chance, I now want to see them live too. It's free promotion.

I also wouldn't worry about Prince, his concerts always sell out. Not to mention he goes on GMA, Conan, etc and does free gigs that are televised on TV, so what's the difference if we see it on a FB page or TV?..To sue these fans is despicable, I mean the 22 aren't out bootlegging his music for money.. I've yet to see Prince in MY Hood rounding up the sidewalk bootleg $ellers who hawk his music every time I go shopping.
I think Prince done lost his mind. This has turned a lot of his fans off.

ps: Btw, he dropped the Lawsuit.
 
You make some excellent points, but @ the bolded part.. or it could lead to more sales. For example, how many times have I seen a performer's act on YT or FB and been blown away, deciding if I get the chance, I now want to see them live too. It's free promotion.

I also wouldn't worry about Prince, his concerts always sell out. Not to mention he goes on GMA, Conan, etc and does free gigs that are televised on TV, so what's the difference if we see it on a FB page or TV?..To sue these fans is despicable, I mean the 22 aren't out bootlegging his music for money.. I've yet to see Prince in MY Hood rounding up the sidewalk bootleg $ellers who hawk his music every time I go shopping.
I think Prince done lost his mind. This has turned a lot of his fans off.

ps: Btw, he dropped the Lawsuit.

LOL.:smt036

Prince could do 100 shows nationwide a year and sell out every one of them.

He needs to get a grip.
 
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