Community Chat

[Cecily Gerard]

Prince takes bootlegging seriously—very seriously. He's suing 22 people who allegedly posted his live performances online, and he wants $1 million from each of them, the Independent reports. The lawsuit claims the fans posted bootleg copies of the performances—some of which are from as long ago as 1983—to Facebook or Google's Blogger service, and that they allowed others to download unauthorized copies of the files. One individual alone is allegedly responsible for 363 unlawful file sharing links, the New York Daily News reports.

Prince fans are split in their reactions to the news, theBBC reports. On one fan forum, a user wrote, "Doing things like this is making him lose more and more fans." Prince is well-known for hitting back at bootleggers via lawsuit. Another fan called it "a black day in Prince history," while a third called Prince "crazy" and noted that he doesn't exactly need the money. But other fans expressed support: "I appreciate Prince's music and Prince himself enough to be against people who go against his rights as an artist," wrote one.

[Luv2Decorate]

Some view it as stealing. He has a product that he is selling and that's his music.

[Qwackertoo]

I think he has always been VERY protective of ""his brand"".

[scotttie]

I don't blame him for suing. It's his product. HOwever other entertainers say that the file sharing increases their popularity.

[Cecily Gerard]

I guess he needs the money.

[scotttie]

On 1/28/2014 Cecily Gerard said:

I guess he needs the money.

Maybe he does LOL! You know they have big spending lifestyles...maybe he doesn't have that much $$ anymore.

[RainCityGirl]

Obviously, it's not about the money. Technically, each time a bootlegged video is viewed, he deserves a royalty...by law.

[gazelle77]

How many average people have a million dollars to give him even if he won his suit? He would see nothing......

[sidsmom]

Pearl Jam is of the same ilk. We had another thread about the this recently...Costco vs Tiffany. I was the only one defending Tiffany. This is the exact same thing...Prince has every right to sue. Companies, including those of one person (ie artists), work hard to get that level of reputation. Downloading concerts to the internet (Prince) & using a named brand (Tiffany) is just like walking in to a store & grabbing the money out of the cash register. Just because "someone doesn't need the money" is not a good reason....sorry, that won't hold up in court. Dress it up any way you want...it's just stealing...plain & simple. #teamprince. #teamtiffany

[Cecily Gerard]

On 1/28/2014 gazelle77 said: How many average people have a million dollars to give him even if he won his suit? He would see nothing......

Exactly.