Looks like history is repeating itself as Prince has once again filed a suit against his fans for posting his copyrighted material on their Facebook pages or websites.
In 2007, Prince had sued a mother who posted a short video on youtube of her baby dancing to Prince’s song Let’s Go Crazy.
In 2014, his lawyers filed a suit in the U.S. District Court of San Francisco against twenty two Internet Users for $1 million each for massive infringement and bootlegging of Prince’s material, including footage of concerts dating back to the 1980s. Two out of the twenty two defendants have been listed by their names, the others as John Does.
The action, filed earlier this month, reads: “The defendants in this case engage in massive infringement and bootlegging of Prince’s material.”
The documents go on to outline a range of blog sites and Facebook profiles where live renditions of classic Prince tracks such as Purple Rain and Little Red Corvette could be downloaded, or where links to such material could be found.
This act of Prince has generated mixed reactions from fans. While some feel he is right in doing what he has done, many more feel otherwise.
“Doing things like this is making him lose more and more fans,” wrote one fan on a major Prince fan forum.
However, some of Prince‘s fans feel that he has done the right thing by filing a legal case as he has the right to protect his vast back catalogue of material.
“I wish they do get punished enough so that this becomes a lesson for others. I appreciate Prince’s music and Prince himself enough to be against people who go against his rights as an artist.” wrote one of his fans on his blog.
Also his fans on the long-established Prince.org forum suggested that although the action was surprising, it was not out of character for Prince.
Now lets wait and keep a watch on the outcome of this legal battle.
