#PRFail: Prince Sues 22 Fans for $1 Million … Each
FULL DISCLOSURE: Prince is a certifiable genius and I own all of his music. That said, the dude is also a certifiable guest in one of those padded cells with the cutesy little jackets that buckles in the back.
Prince is known for writing amazing tunes, wearing ass-less chaps, indulging in omnisexual freakishness, and hating the Internet. That vitriol comes in response to people bootlegging “His Royal Badness’” tunes via the technology of said Interweb. To wit, Prince Rogers Nelson (who knew) is suing 22 of his fans for one millllllllllllllllllion dollars.
There’s more in the suit after the jump…
“The Defendants in this case engage in massive infringement and bootlegging of Prince’s material,” the lawsuit, news of which was first reported by TorrentFreak, claims.It alleges one of the individuals had 363 infringing links to file sharing services hosting Prince bootlegs. It also claims the majority of the links were on Facebook-based fan pages and Google’s Blogger network.
“Prince has suffered and is continuing to suffer damages in an amount according to proof, but no less than $1 million per Defendant,” the suit adds.
“Suffered?!” No, the people who suffer are those who have no other options for support but to call the now defunct McResources helpline. Prince, exposing himself in front of whatever exotic wildlife he has roaming his palatial estate in Minnesota, is hardly suffering. However, he is hell-bent on teaching his fans a very expensive lesson: I Would Sue 4 U.
You know, nameless fans who worship at his purple altar under the name of Symbol pseudonyms (20 of them, in fact) — many of which are Prince-related, such as “PurpleHouse2? and “PurpleKissTwo” — are also being sued.
“Defendants rely on either Google’s Blogger platform or Facebook, or both, to accomplish their unlawful activity,” the court papers claim. “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.”
According to the suit, some of the material dates back to a 1983 concert but most of it is recent. Prince’s lawyer claims that there were 363 illicit links on one website alone.
The moral of the story: There is some justice in being a Justin Bieber fan, after all. You’re welcome, eight-year-old girls.
By Shawn Paul Wood
