Prince is working toward pissing off his entire fanbase after demanding that his three most popular fansites remove photographs, album covers and lyrics.
The sites - www.housequake.com, www.princefams.com and www.prince.org - released a joint statement under the banner 'Prince Fans United', which read, "We strongly believe that such actions are in violation of ... freedom of speech and should not be allowed."The internet monitoring company Web Sheriff were enlisted for the crackdown. Spokesman John Giacobbi noted, "The dispute, in so far as there is one, is related to the use of photographs and images of Prince, many of which are Prince's copyright."
He later added, "These forums have taken it upon themselves to wear the crown of being the self appointed representatives of the millions of Prince fans worldwide, despite the fact that they only represent a tiny fraction of Prince's global fanbase."
This is of course the same Prince who famously rallied against his record label throughout much of the 1990s, at one point etching the word 'slave' onto his face in protest - a reference to his belief that he was owned by the label.
The sites have vowed to take the issue to the courts, arguing, "The law clearly provides for displaying of images of a celebrity's likeness for newsworthy events or matters which are considered to be public interest."
