Confusion all around us
Source: http://www.princefansunited.com

Many members and visitors will doubtless have seen the wildly inaccurate statement today by AEG that "Prince is not suing his fans" and referring to the Prince Fans United sites as "phoney".

Not only is this statement confusing, libellous and misleading, we have actually been informed by Prince's representatives that his PR company (Outside PR) sent this in error last night and it has been picked up by a few key media organisations today.

We will shortly be issuing a (heavily) revised joint statement, however in the meantime please be aware that stories circulating on the internet that refers to "phoney" fan websites are wildly inaccurate and should not be taken at face value.

Outside PR have assured us that every measure is currently being taken to withdraw these articles..

In this game, nothing's sent in error.
First mover advantages are at play.

What a disgusting way to operate!

A retraction means nothing. People will still say, "wait a minute - didn't I hear somewhere that it was all an internet hoax?"

Sadly, as with most things in life, whoever yells first and loudest wins.

And so the saga continues.....

The "mistakenly" released press release is still up on http://www.nme.com/news/prince/32426 as well as a couple of other sites

Anyone want to bet its not replaced by an equally prominent retraction and apology?

Next thing to happen is Prince walking away from talks with PFU.

m3taverse said:

That's a no-brainer...the question is WHY he'll walk away - to sulk in silence or write another song?

Yeah I just read it;

http://www.nme.com/news/prince/32426

Prince the believer in the TRUTH. Just shows what a walking hypocrite the guy is.

What is going on here is a fucking disgrace, he doesn't deserve the dedicated fan base he has.

PurpleJedi said:

Am I going crazy or did they tone down the article? Weren't the sites refered to as "phoney"?

Ah yes, in fact they were, the NME originally contained this as well

It does use the word "phoney"

Here is the article in full:

Prince 'not suing fans'

Singer hits back at fansite claims
11 hours ago
Prince has released a statement refuting claims that he is suing a number of fansites.

It was reported that lawyers for the singer had ordered several fansites to remove any image that bears his likeness, prompting fans to form a group to fight the demands.

However, a statement released by the singer's promoter AEG said: "Prince is not suing his fans, is not looking to penalise fans and nor is he looking to or inhibiting freedom of speech in any way. In fact, he is simply looking to provide Prince fans with exclusive music and images entirely free of charge, and bypassing unofficial and unauthorised phoney fan sites that exploit both consumers and artists.

"The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fansites, or control comment in any way. The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images, and no lawsuits have been filed.

"The three sites in question have falsely positioned themselves as representatives of millions of Prince fans. In fact, many have come out in support of Prince at his official site and even on the message boards of the unofficial sites in question.

"Mediation between the parties is currently resolving the matter."

The "offending items" were said to be live shots from Prince's 21 nights in London at the O2 Arena earlier this year.

The statement also spoke out against fansite piracy.

It explained: "Prince is breaking new ground as the first artist to take on the world's largest internet pirates bootleggers, including the notorious The Pirate Bay who have been misrepresenting themselves as a site for 'the fans'.

"They are in fact exploiting copyrighted material for their commercial gain. The site has flouted constant legal notices from artists and corporations throughout the world while cashing in on advertising monies. All the time, they keep up the pretence of being an anarchist, 'free music' fansite when it is really a massive money-making venture."

pho·ny also pho·ney (fō'nē) Pronunciation Key
adj. pho·ni·er, pho·ni·est


1. Not genuine or real; counterfeit: a phony credit card.
False; spurious: a phony name.
Insincere or hypocritical.
Giving a false impression of truth or authenticity; specious.
Not honest or truthful; deceptive: a phony excuse.

2. Insincere or hypocritical.
Giving a false impression of truth or authenticity; specious.

n. pl. pho·nies also pho·neys

Something not genuine; a fake.

One who is insincere or pretentious.
An impostor; a hypocrite.


I think a site that clearly states "independant and unofficial" is sincere, and real.....
[Edited 11/9/07 16:44pm]

OMG!!!!!

I've been on the Org since the purple and black days and I know it is not run by bootleggers trying to exploit me.

PRince isn't trying to give me shit for free!
I don't want his heavily patrolled sites! I want the heavily patrolled org.

Prince's tactics are REALLY lowering my opinion of him. I'm going to start hating him.



(I'm serious).
.
.
.
[Edited 11/9/07 18:02pm]

When Prince said he was gonna Get Stupid, I didn't think he meant it.


He's exposing himself as a real steaming fucking monkey dickhole, isn't he? This whole thing is pathetic. He's losing more fan loyalty than he could EVER gain by controlling whatever fucking images he thinks he needs to control.

Here's an image for you, little man: Me taking a big slinky shit right on my copy of Planet Earth, and then mailing it back to Paisley Park C.O.D. Eat it, billy jack bitch.

KingSausage said:

Lord Sausage! You have returned! Lead us o great one!

SquirrelMeat said:

The REVOLUTION has commenced!!!

Markland said:

http://ap.google.com/arti...QDARG0



Prince Takes Steps to Protect Copyrights

5 hours ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prince is taking legal action to stop Web sites from using copyrighted images, a concert promotion company announced Friday.

Contrary to reports, the Purple One is not suing his fans or looking to inhibit free speech in any way, AEG, which promoted Prince's concert series in London, said in a statement.

"The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fan sites, or control comment in any way," the statement read. "The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images and no lawsuits have been filed."

Three Web sites published copyrighted images and live photos from Prince's London concerts, according to AEG. "Mediation between the parties is currently resolving the matter," the group's statement said.

Prince intends to offer some material for free online, bypassing "phony fan sites that exploit both consumers and artists," AEG said.

The promotions company said one of the alleged violators, Pirate Bay, is "exploiting copyrighted material for their commercial gain."

Representatives from Pirate Bay did not immediately return a request for comment.

PFU should counter-sue for that statement, it's liabolous!

confusion all around us

is exactly what prince is aiming 4.

very destructive... all the more reason 2 stand 2gether on principle & common
decency.

Note that Prince has lied again. 24 hours later and the "erroneous" press release has still not been withdrawn.

It's getting dirty....i love it!

I actually believe that the press release is the truth and is what Prince really thinks of his fans. That is why it went out in error.

KingSausage said:

As PFU says, they've been in talks to take corrective action. Had this been 10 years ago, when the concept of "blogging" and fansites were not well known, I think there'd be less public sympathy with the PFU sites. Now, with many if not most if not all informed people belonging to the Net community is SOME form or fashion, it is Prince, not PFU, that is diminished in their eyes.

The PFU sites, in my view, have not done anything wrong. They've done their best to stay within the fair use doctrine. They've taken corrective action when called upon. They've policed their subscribers very well. And, they've created communities all their own where, in some ways, Prince is an INCIDENTAL topic of conversation. If they've screwed up, then they I bet would do right by Prince.

But Prince is within his rights to be sensitive, aggressive, ham handed, etc. when it comes to his intellectual property. That doesn't mean he'll prevail. But I still choose to separate the art from the artist. The genius that springs from him is informed by the flaws we see in his course of conduct now.

It's sad that he'd dog out the very people who have supported him and kept his name and legacy afloat through his lean years. He might forget that not everybody loved him unconditionally for a while. But the people that make up PFU did.

It's great to be a Prince fan right now! We are involved in conflict with the very musician we made a superstar.

I know the fans will win this battle, because without us, there will be no Prince.

I'm going to look at this as a midlife crisis for Prince, he is pushing 50. The next time I see him, I'm going to cuss him out for not acknowledging who made him who he is like I did in 1995. Afterward, I'm go to his concert, sit on the front row and stare him down, daring him to acknowledge I was wrong.

The last time I had a confrontation with Prince, his way of apologizing was putting me in a video.

So, fans, relax this too shall pass. But, let's enjoy the drama. It's almost as good as the storyline on "General Hospital" with Nicholas Cassadine losing his sanity.

incognito said:

Can I ask, what would be an acceptable outcome to you?
Is it ok for sites to close, someone to go to jail or pay hefty fines? What is a compromise you are willing to live with?

Ok, hold the presses..

Read the thing again.. it's calling out PIRATEBAY as the bootleg site making money off ad dollars. There's nothing libellious about that. I think it's saying Prince is making peace with the fan sites and the real jerks are Pirate-Bay-type sites. That's the problem: people have their tensions so high they read things that aren't even there and then flip out about it. If everyone on all sides would calm down this whole thing would blow over.

KingSausage said:

The Lord of Meat, where've you been?

deepabove said:

Actually that's after they tried to clean it up. However, a whole lot of us that read it the first time have very good memories and Control/Command + C buttons.