Prince takes legal axe to online video clips

Published on Friday 14 September 2007 01:16

POP star Prince is taking on YouTube over unauthorised use of his performances.

The singer is launching legal action in a bid to "reclaim his art on the internet". He wants to ban any unauthorised video clips taken of his performances.

Prince is believed to be the first major artist to do battle with the online giant.

"These are steps that the ever-innovative Prince is taking to reclaim his art on the internet," a spokesman for the star said.

"Prince believes strongly that the music rights must remain with the artist and thus copyrights should be protected across the board."

The singer has instructed Web Sheriff, a company which specialises in combating online piracy and copyright infringement, to act on his behalf.

Prince is famously protective of his music rights - in the mid-1990s he changed his name to a squiggle and wrote the word "slave" on his cheek as part of a contractual wrangle with then record label Warner Bros.

Fans at his recent gigs at the O2 arena in London were banned from taking photographs or video footage on their mobile phones.

Web Sheriff has succeeded in taking more than 1,000 unauthorised Prince video clips off YouTube in the past few days.

Prince is also targeting eBay and other sites for selling unauthorised merchandise.