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Prince to sue YouTube, eBay

MIKE COLLETT-WHITE

Reuters

Latest comment posted at 8:41 AM EST 17/09/07

Pop star going after major websites for unauthorized use of his music in a bid to 'reclaim his art on the Internet' ...Read the full article

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  1. Robert von from Calgary, writes: Its about time that someone stands up against Google/You Tube. They have constantly demonstrated that they do not respect any sort of copyright imposed. For all of those who say they want the stuff for free that is fine and dandy but Google is making millions off of You Tube and not sharing any of it with the people who they have ripped off. Napster tried the same defense that it was not them posting the content but the users. Well we know how that worked out in the end. Hopefully more people will take up the cause.
  2. Old Folksinger from Canada writes: Silly little Prince. He can reclaim his "art" from me anytime - just send me the $20 and he can have his lousy CD back.

    Yesterday's man.
  3. Chuck the Canuk from Moncton, Canada writes: can we all say L-O-S-E-R ??? what a moron that talentless has been is. i said it before and i will say it again. him and his so called music suck the big one. gawd he makes me sick. i wish he WOULD take all his "art" back, and do us all a favour.
  4. M T from Canada writes: Quixotic, to say the least.
  5. The Bubble from Toronto, Canada writes: It's the only way he can make money these days, no one's gonna buy his gibberish. Prance.
  6. A. W. from Canada writes: Prince is a fantastic musician. This move is wrong-headed though. If you ask me, he needs all the exposure he can get, and YouTube offers him that. Lord knows the likes of MuchMusic and MTV stopped playing his videos eons ago.
  7. Jeff M from Ottawa, Canada writes: Whether or not you enjoy the music of Prince is not the issue. Any performing artist who has not authorized his or her material to be placed on a public forum should have the right to be compensated, have the material removed, or both, especially if the controlling company refuses to filter this material out when requested. Youtube and MySpace are great services for musicians and other performers who wish to have their material publicly available for free. I have on occasion made a CD purchase based on what I saw and heard on YouTube - material I otherwise would not have known existed, so free presentation can be an indirect benefit for the artist as well. However, this should remain a matter of choice. Nobody likes to feel ripped-off.
  8. Pete G from Toronto, Canada writes: Get with the programme, Prince. They tried to stop Napster and even MORE illegal downloading sites have appeared and thrived. It's just the way things are and there is no way of stopping it. The music industry is changing and artists are just going to have to smarten up to the fact. A smart musician would see that YouTube acts as FREE publicity for artists (yes, yes, 'it isn't free because he pays for all the revenue he lost because people didn't buy his video, or CD' blah, blah, blah). It does get your image and name out there. The idea of what a celebrity is changing. The old-fashioned idea of the glamorous hollywood star is long and buried. To-day's audience knows too much and has seen too much. YouTube's success is a result of this, and not the cause.
  9. L C from Canada writes: A.W. you are exactly right on this one !
  10. Aumharan G from Canada writes: Old Folksinger from Canada writes: Silly little Prince. He can reclaim his "art" from me anytime - just send me the $20 and he can have his lousy CD back.

    Yesterday's man.

    Much better idea.
  11. Paul Jones from Kitchener, Canada writes: really? and here i was just thinking that this is the most publicity that this has-been has had in years!
  12. Cui Bono from Canada writes: Ah yes, people love watching dinosaurs die.
  13. Jeff M from Ottawa, Canada writes: Pete G: "They tried to stop Napster and even MORE illegal downloading sites have appeared and thrived."

    - The key word here is "illegal".
  14. Hugh Dillon from Kingston, Canada writes: Was this the same "art" that you displayed when you performed on American Idol ther Prince?

    .....cough cough....

    and btw....downloading music in Canada, is not illegal.
  15. Rick La Rose from Ottawa, Canada writes: Does Prince not get that the videos posted on Youtube are from his fans. And that it is those fans who are helping to continue to spread his "Art". Without this he'd be forgotten.

    No one is making money off his "Art". If anything, the videos help to keep his "Art" alive and his name out there thus continuing his CD and Single sales.

    What a Douche.. slapping around his fans like that.
  16. Susie Q from Canada writes: Downloading copyrighted music posted without the artist's permission IS illegal.
  17. Gardiner Westbound from Canada writes: .

    Prince is getting a little long in the tooth. It's the real reason his CD sales are not meeting expectations.
    .
  18. Jim Hester from Mississauga, Canada writes: This is not a question of whether you like Prince's work or not. The issue is that Google/You Tube are making money off his work and paying him nothing. Illegally posting a copyrighted video makes money for Google/You Tube. It makes people come to the site and then they are shown ads. The ad money goes to Google - not Prince or anyone else. The CBC cannot just take an episode of "Friends" from the box set and run it with ads and not pay anyone anything.
  19. Rain SCM from Vancouver, Canada writes: Metallica tried to take on Napster and did manage a minimal win, forcing napster to become a for-pay download site. In the process the group lost so many fans while they were at the top of their game, they were unable to recover. Whatever your thoughts about Prince's artistry, he doesn't have the huge fan base he used to and will destroy his career throughout this process.
  20. This is bat country! from Expat, Canada writes: I never imagined that videos of tennis racquets would stir up such controversy.
  21. t buys from Vancouver, Canada writes: To "This is bat country! from Expat":

    You fool! This about Machiavelli's book, not tennis equipment! Get with the program!
  22. Joseph Whistle from Canada writes: youtube is all about fair use. Showing fragments of tv shows, movies, and showing video clips just keeps people in touch with the products.

    If Prince wants to lock his work up behind safe doors, noone will see it, which 'd be a very stupid move.

    The fact that he's using this suit as a publicity stunt means even he admits he totally passay.
  23. Jacques Shellac from Montreal, Canada writes: Prince just lost the only chance he had at a next generation audience. As Mr T would say, "Pity the fool". I'm still pretty impressed that he managed to get away with that giant display of phallus during the superbowl half-time show though without the xtian conservatives in the US going off the wall.
  24. K S from Recipro City, Canada writes: To Jim Hester, Robert von, and others of their ilk: This isn't about Prince losing money to the horrible greedy file-sharing sites. Let's face it, people would go onto these sites whether Prince's stuff was on there or not. This is Prince trying to suck up to the industry. Arguing that since these websites get revenue from ads that are watched when people log on, they must be making a fortune off the backs of musicians like Prince, is kind of like arguing that since libraries charge for a card they are making a fortune off authors. And musicians, for that matter, as there are many CD's at the average local library. It is very arrogant to assume that with so many files on YouTube yours is the one the people are coming to see and the one that the website is making money from. There are lots of files on YouTube, not just uploaded music files. Also, as someone else rightly pointed out, downloading a music file in Canada is not illegal - we already pay a fee on every blank CD purchased. I smell something funny here when the industry goes after the websites to get $ from them, and the people who upload to get $ from them, and the people who download to get $ from them. Granted, Prince is only going after the website providers - so far. The industry is trying to give us the impression that all the artists are behind them in their "sharing is stealing" mentality, and the best they could come up with were the likes of Metallica and Prince.
  25. Mister Fartleberry from Toronto, Canada writes: Yes let's put and end to all free promotion of "stars".
  26. $ formerly known as prince from Canada writes: Prince who ?
  27. $ formerly known as prince from Canada writes: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=prince&search=Search
  28. Tom Ridout from Toronto, Canada writes: Great! once his music and videos have been eliminated from the various on-line sources he can fade into obscurity and leave us alone. What a pompous dope.
  29. Old Folksinger from Canada writes: Susie Q from Canada writes: Downloading copyrighted music posted without the artist's permission IS illegal.

    Wrong! It MAY be actionable in civil court but it is certainly NOT illegal.

    You are not in the US now Susie.
  30. Hugh Dillon from Kingston, Canada writes: Sorry Susie, you are incorrect.

    The downloading of music in Canada is NOT illegal. You may get sued, there are obviously moral implications but it is certainly legal to do it.
  31. Hugh Dillon from Kingston, Canada writes: It is illegal to upload it for distribution thats why file sharing services get in trouble.

    I can't sell it or give it to my friends, but so long as i download for personal use, there is NO copyright infringements.
  32. Bernard B from Canada writes: G.D'ed antiquated copyright laws. These guys are musician and performers. Get on stage and perform and you can easily ensure all attendees pay. Isn't this the guy that released his last album for free online. Guess it didn't work as well as he thought it would. I'm not a fan but I won't slam his music. The world is changing, don't be yesterday's man.
  33. Centrist for the Centre from Canada writes: This is a mistake on his part. He's made many millions under the old system, and wants many millions more. If it wasn't about the money, he would just be happy about the exposure. "Reclaim his art," he means reclaim his royalties. Bye Prince.
  34. Frank N. Stein from Canada writes: "Reclaim his art" actually means "recycle his junk".
  35. Susie Q from Canada writes: Hmm, I stand corrected. Checked it out and it is legal to download, but illegal to upload. So where the hell does all this downloadable music come from! (Rhetorical question...)
  36. Averill Pessin from Canada writes: Assuming only fans post material on the internet is naive.

    Assuming Prince's objective is solely about royalties and not also about maintaining his image is similarly simple-minded.

    Of course a major star might reasonably choose to go to great lengths to preserve what he has worked decades for.
  37. A formally AM from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada writes: Heres the problem artists and major music, TV, and Movie companies don't get with the changes in technology. Torrents, p2p networks are the Future. The CD is now 25 years old, is out of date technology and the MP3 Player has taken it place and Industry are scared of a technology that they don't understand. If Prince want to make more of his art which his music is really out of date. If artist don't keep their art alive it the fans and if the Artists are suing the fans they will stop to support them and they will go out of the spot light really fast. If Prince should join similar to the Canadian Music Creators Coalition who want to stop Major Music labels from suing their fans
    hears the web site and take a close look at the artist that join this:
    http://www.musiccreators.ca/wp/
  38. Expert Eel from Canada writes: Great, another has-bean suing his fans for lost glory.

    Didn't Prince make enough money off his art?
  39. Chuck the Canuk from Moncton, Canada writes: Have any of you watched his crap on Youtube? Or ANY videos from there? Youtube is such terrible quality that I don't think that anyone in their right mind would download it to keep. Actually, all you do is watch it on a browser window, not download it. It is all a publicity stunt by him anyway, just like his name change. No one buys his crap so he has to stir up the pot to get media attention. Sounds just like Michael Jackson. hahahahaha. Can we all still say L-O-S-E-R ??? Jeff M you sound just as anal as the people from the RIAA. Get with the 21 century dude. Royalties will soon be out the window I hope. No one deserves to make commission for 50 years on some crappy music, or even good music. Couple years yes, then they should have to prove they can still make fresh stuff, instead of sliding on their butts for 25 or 30 years collecting royalties. We, the purchasing public, have been ripped off long enough by these lamers like Prince.
  40. Norman Dupuis from Calgary, Canada writes: I dare one of you who think it's just fine to entertain yourself with free music and music videos to start a public "new movies for free" file sharing site and then, oh, about seven hours later, report back to us on the quality of prison food. Or start a radio station, refuse to pay royalties on the recordings you broadccast and try using the excuse that you were only helping the artists gain a broader audience.

    Or better yet, walk in to your boss's office Monday and tell him/her that you'd like to start working for nothing next week because you got paid enough last week. Artists own the right to their work until they sell it, and if they negotiate properly they retain the right to royalties. No one should be allowed to distribute art for free regardless of how many pathetic justifications you can dream up.
  41. David Gibson from Hamilton, Canada writes: Good for Prince. I hope he wins big, and I hope other artists follow suit. :<) Being in the US, where there is a belief that you should be paid for your work, he may very well win. Downloaders are cheap whankers. They will no doubt expect to be paid every week when they move out of Mom's basement and get a job.
  42. Mac Mcluvin from Montreal, Canada writes: He gives his music away with cheap newspapers and now wants to sue websites that use his music. Stop listening to your lawyers and produce quality art then maybe you wouldn't have to sue the people who love your so called art. Reclaim your art, hahahahha. This is 2007 and the net is a powerful medium to PROMOTE your art, not the other way around. I will never understand why an artist would sue rather that use a tool that would eventualy make him even richer than he already is. I can understand an indie band getting angry over downloading of their music if they haven't sold a single CD but for an established musician to come out and sue his fans, that just smells like corporate bs and i'm very surprised Prince is buying into it. This will only hurt him more than anything. What ever happened to that band that first sued its fans? Metallickass or something....
  43. Paul Jones from Kitchener, Canada writes: Norman Dupuis - youre inferring that people are downloading for profit. thats, ususally, not the case. please dont make inane arguments that prove nothing. if i download a song for my own enjoyment its not illegal. dont like it? b*tch at our govt.

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