MartyMcFly said:

Ok, I only believed that for like a second.

It's ....it's ....just that Universial have made a trend of it lately....meh...

Unsympatic!

Oh my god, you killed Housequake! You bastards!

Well, not really, but the vids were the main reason I used HQ. I just can't see how most of the stuff posted there had any real commercial value. It's a real shame.

We should protest:

1. Have a Swapola Week, where everyone makes available dozens of bootlegs on unmentionable parts of the web to show how pointless cracking down on HQ's esoteric collection is. And if that doesn't work;

2. Have a Bad Karaoke competition on YouTube - get a webcam and butcher a Prince song the best you can. Bring on the musical travesties and make his ears bleed until he calls off the hired goons.

NuPwr319 said:

Yeah. Basically it is a company Prince has hired to collect money on his behalf, and anywhere that plays his music or music in videos should technically be stumping up cash for doing so. When they don't, Universal have every right to ask them to remove the offending items. I have a feeling Universal are trying to impess Prince by showing they are pro-actively protecting his rights, so that he will re-sign with them when his royalty-collecting contract next expires...

Milty said:

Yeah, they could still be saved. I believe I got most of them thankfully. Everytime I made a post on HQ about how to save them it got deleted so must not have wanted the information known, even tho checking your temporary internet files isn't that hard

I think Housequake has been "sailing close to the wind" with videos and Bootleg discussion for a while. Lets hope this will blow over and we can get back to normal soon.

Its bizarre to me that a decade ago Prince was so ahead in the internet music game... and currently, seems to have the worst online presence/relations of any major musician.

Jude418 said:

He ought to just shut down all the Prince Sites. That way no one would buy his music or care.

I just had a peek at HQ by what some have written it seems a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to help resolve this Link

katt said:

Right now, I am kinda hoping that helps cuz the fact that I don't have the videos watch when I feel like kinda made me go a little insane yesterday. Having the videos I think could only help Prince because it lets fans know a little more about him and if they're new to his fandom, they could learn a lot about his music in a short amount of time.

Like interviews are rare enough as it is, and I don't see why he shouldn't want the fans to know more about him. That's what the interviews do for me. It's better than reading lengthy paragraphs w/o Q & A's. But I won't ever forget my first one that's so rare to come by that I don't think even Housequake had it.

Well, they should have known this would happen that Superbowl footage was probably the last straw, it's not like they had not been warned.

If Prince isn't going to re-release them, what's the point in wanting them off HQ? It doesn't make sense

I hope and believe that HQ and UMP will work something out. Just have to wait and see.
~MS

PopeLeo said:

danceelectric on HQ said :
Hq rules, but what's it worth without those cool videos and tv appearances.

I say let's boycott the official 3121 site,

it sucks anyway.

everyday stuff at the interweb

what's that line from "it's a wonderful life"?

"every time a prince video gets yanked from the web, a bootlegger grows a pair of horns and a tail."

Anx said:

I will try to sum up some of the questions.

Universal Music and Universal Publishing are two different companies. Universal Publishing is only responsible for collecting and distributing royalties on all of Prince's stuff.

Second, I am aware of the behind the scenes negotiations/communications, and this is being fueled by Universal. Most likely the superbowl vid was the final straw. The NFL has gone on a rampage trying to shut down each and every video out there. They were on a rampage even BEFORE the superbowl occurred. If you will recall, they were trying to stop several church congregations from hosting superbowl parties. The reason for this was all about ratings, they don't like superbowl parties because that reduces the number of ratings when you have multiple people watching one television. They are not able to shut down sports bars from hosting superbowl parties because there is already in place an existing agreement allowing those parties.

It appears the pressure is coming from the NFL, not Prince and not Universal. However, when Universal sent their cease and desist, they had to keep it all "legal". You can't expect that they will say to only take down the NFL video...they tell you take them all down.

As I said, negotiations are going on to see what can be worked out. Hopefully something can, but there may be a chance it can't.

Also, yes, they are hosted in the Netherlands, but the Netherlands and the US are both parties to the Universal Copyright Convention and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which basically means the laws for something copyrighted in the US follow to the Netherlands, and vice versa.

However, on some, not all, of the videos they do have a defense to the infringment which is called the "fair use" affirmative defense. However, this doesn't mean you can't be prosecuted for infringement, it is merely a defense you can raise if you are prosecuted. This is also touchy because as of yet, an issue of corporations vs. fansites on fair use has not yet come before the courts, so it really is hard to say how a court would rule in a situation like this. Cease and desist letters to fansites are not uncommon. Fan sites of all kinds get them all the time. Unfortunately, for most it is enough to scare them and they refrain from the alleged infringement. The corporations rely on the fact that you will adhere to the cease and desist letter because most people running fansites are not familiar with copyright law.

I think it would be interesting to see a fansite challenge a corporation on the fair use defense. I think they have a valid defense when they are offering videos to be viewed, not purchased, that are not available for purchase by any other means. We need to have a case like this go before the courts to have a definate ruling one way or another for all the fansites out there, not just musician sites either. You see tv show fansites and such come under fire all the time from the corporate lawyers.

Ok, this is long, and i am sure alot of you didn't read it all, LOL. So if you have more questions, just post and I will try to respond.
[Edited 2/17/07 22:27pm]

Thank you txladykat.

Jude418 said:

Oh please, he wasn't. Especially not when compared to someone like Bowie.

BartVanHemelen said:

That's like comparing K2 to Everest. Sure, Bowie was probably the top pioneer for a music artist. I've even heard it said Mick Hucknall was a bit of a pioneer. But Prince was definately up there.

metalorange said:

Yeah, I guess I meant ahead with ideas and marketing that never really materialized.

txladykat said:

Thanks txladykat, you gave an easy to understand explanation, it's an interesting situation.

HQ has a new mod (aka compliance editor), Gavin, who is well versed in this stuff and is helping them get things straightened out.

There's a few people who will get full from all the words they're eating...

Things are happening behind the scenes.

The forum is temporarily syspended - NOT closed !
[Edited 2/20/07 3:58am]

Gav said:

Its back up today Yay!

blumer said:

I just saw them there a few minutes ago, and I rejoiced! HOORAY!!!

asg said:

Please explain what you mean by all videos? As I am typing this I'm watching him perform "Strange Relationship" from Housequake's video section.

blumer said:

YAY!!

Oh man, I can't wait to get back to my dorm and start playing a whole bunch of them. I feel like a weight's been lifted from my chest because I thought I'd just have to deal with random Google/YouTube searches... which was the last thing I really wanted to do [since Prince hates YouTube].

But I'm stuck here for another hour or so cuz I've got dinner... but I'm so there once I get back.

Still, I wonder

a) is it back for good?
b) why it's back? [did Prince allow them to return personally? or did Universal just give in?]