NiceNBreezy said:

electricberet said:

The parties have until tomorrow to file objections to the referee's report. Then there will be further briefing into October:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

I've been wondering about the status of this, and even searched last week (nada)...so thanks for posting the update...

Prince's lawyers got an extension to file their objections until Oct. 5 due "other professional obligations" and the upcoming Jewish holidays:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

Well ONE concert in Germany or someother market over there and BOOM its paid off! Prince has been raking in the money lately with those festivals.

electricberet said:

paintedlady said:

So Prince not being available to defend HIMSELF cost him.

I remember TRYING to buy this perfume when it came out. Its was to be sold EXCLUSIVELY in Macy's. Well Macy's only had it available is a few stores since they believed Prince's brand wouldn't generate any interest.

I tried to get the bottle in my area, the northeast USA and it wasn't available up here. I was told be an employee of Macy's that "We won't sell that cheap mess here. We prefer to sell our customers oils by designers with quality oils from France."

So the Revelation company should have sued Macy's for not promoting the product also. Half the stores I called never even wanted to sell me their "exclusive" product. After contacting six stores, I finally found the product sold in the Chicago store, they refused to ship it to me.

So I said fuck it... called the Revelation company directly, let the representative know of the many hurdles I came across at just trying to buy a bottle. He apologized but told me that the perfume would be on back order because they were currently overwhelmed with the success and demand for the product.

So if you can't buy the perfume... how are you supposed to get it? By the time the perfume became available to buy online.... I lost total interest. Prince got into business with a mickey mouse bullshit company and Macy's, a department store that has the lousiest customer service ever.

Prince is only part to blame at best... I think Macy's hands are just as dirty for not pushing its own "exclusive" product.

Why Prince did not have a rep in court for him I'll never know.

It's quite simple. He did have lawyers to represent him, but he failed to pay them, so they withdrew. Hence there was no one to represent him in court (and he didn't show up to represent himself).

If Prince had paid his initial lawyers, I'm sure they could have put up a vigorous defense to the allegations made by Revelations. But he didn't pay them. So this is really just a story about what happens if you don't pay your bills.

TRANSLATION: [Snip comments - Langebleu]

Prince should have known better, plain and simple.

ElectricBlue said:

Well ONE concert in Germany or someother market over there and BOOM its paid off! Prince has been raking in the money lately with those festivals.

I hope he does the Vegas thingy again. I'm over here fiending. I need another hit. I'd go, and bring everyone with me. We'd help pay that mess off, lol.

Revelations filed a motion yesterday arguing that the referee erred in rejecting its claims for lost profits and punitive damages:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

Prince's attorneys have until Oct. 21 to file his opposition and cross-motion:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

KidaDynamite said:

kiss712 said:Lmao @ the person asking for the perfume.

Thanks for making me feel bad.

[Edited 10/8/11 21:39pm]

kiss712 said:

KidaDynamite said:

kiss712 said:Lmao @ the person asking for the perfume.

Thanks for making me feel bad.

[Edited 10/8/11 21:39pm]

No need to feel bad. There are a few online perfume sites that stock it (or at least did, as of a few months ago).

I know that there was a chain in the US that supposedly had it recently, although the reports on that were mixed (ie. some stores had it, some didn't). Given that I can't remember what the chain was, that's hardly helpful though - sorry! (maybe someone else remembers?)

eBay of course is another option.

kiss712 said:

KidaDynamite said:

kiss712 said:Lmao @ the person asking for the perfume.

Thanks for making me feel bad.

[Edited 10/8/11 21:39pm]

http://www.fragrancenet.c...n_US/18586

tinaz said:

kiss712 said:

Thanks for making me feel bad.

[Edited 10/8/11 21:39pm]

http://www.fragrancenet.c...n_US/18586

Thank you.

guarinigirl2000 said:

Michael Jackson is dead, so now the next big, influential and secretive Black artist--Prince--is up to be fucked with.

Hate to see it happen. I notice Prince has gotten a LOT of lawsuits in the last couple years.

Prince isn't being sued because he's black and because he's the next artist to be f***ed with. Like anyone else, he gets sued because he doesn't meet contractual obligations. Just because he's an artist whom many love does not entitle him to special treatment from the courts when it comes to business.

electricberet said:

Hmm. Where could Prince get the money to pay that? Once again I'm at a loss. It's not like the guy is sitting on a treasure trove of unreleased music that could be packaged into deluxe editions or something.

He's 50 something years old and made all the relevant Forbes lists in his 20's. I don't think he's exactly poor after creating iconic pop albums (pre 21century when you could still get rich off of it), earning royalties off music he's written for others, soundtracks, film scores, commercial jingles, private concerts costing 1 Mil+ a pop, touring for the last 30 years, his rip off pay-to-play websites, and gawd knows however else he's diversified his financial portfolio with ventures not involving music. Not saying that amount wouldn't hurt his pocket, clearly 4 million is a lot to anyone, including the rich- but I don't see him biting his nails and wondering if he can afford extra soy cheese on his garden burger over this.

electricberet said:

More detail from the New York Law Journal:

http://www.law.com/jsp/ny...hbxlogin=1

Prince, the flamboyant pop star with 10 platinum albums, should pay nearly $4 million in damages for welshing on his promise to promote a perfume named after his latest CD, a special referee in Manhattan concluded after conducting a four-day inquest on damages.

The referee, Louis Crespo, awarded $3.9 million to Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics to cover expenditures it had made in reliance on Prince's commitment to promote a perfume, 3121, named for the CD.

Mr. Crespo, however, rejected Revelations' claim for an additional $3.4 million in lost profits, finding they were too "speculative." He also denied Revelations' assertion that it was entitled to punitive damages.

Revelations' lawyer, David Landau of Duane Morris in Philadelphia, said he will ask Manhattan Acting Supreme Court Justice Bernard J. Fried to confirm the referee's award next week. Prince's lawyer, Kenneth A. Novikoff of Rivkin Radler in Uniondale, said his client would oppose the application.

The case came before Mr. Crespo for an assessment of damages in January following Prince's default on Revelations' claims of fraudulent inducement and tortious interference with contract.

Prince failed to appear at a scheduled December court hearing after Peter C. Harvey of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler withdrew complaining that the firm had not been paid "for months" and that Prince had "failed to comply with basic discovery obligations."

Prince's new lawyer, Mr. Novikoff, entered the case shortly before a hearing on damages started on May 5, 2011.

According to Revelations' complaint, Prince had induced the Philadelphia-area perfume maker in late 2006 to enter a licensing agreement for the perfume by promising to personally engage in a promotional campaign. The singer also promised to allow his name and image to be used in the packaging of the new perfume.

The day after a licensing agreement was signed on Dec. 2, 2006, according to the complaint, Prince started backtracking; refused to give interviews in connection with the projected, which was launch on July 7, 2007; and failed to provide a current photo of himself for a press release.

According to Mr. Landau, Revelations' attorney, Prince was personally involved in selecting the fragrances to be used in the perfume, described by merchants as "a sexy scent," "Xquisite, Mysterious, Xotic," that smells like a "kaleidoscope of rich florals." It comes in a purple bottle reminiscent of the artist's disc "Purple Rain."

From March 2007 until that July's launch at a Macy's in Minneapolis, Revelations had no personal contact with Prince, Mr. Landau said, but the singer did perform an in-store concert in connection with the launch on July 7.

Afterward, Prince refused to make any public appearances promoting the project, the lawyer said, and refused to grant any interviews, aborting potential sit-downs with Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Ebony magazine.

Prince's refusal to give media interviews and stage in-store events crippled the marketing effort, Mr. Landau said, and forced the cancellation of the licensing agreement because Revelations failed to meet minimum sales requirements, the lawyer said.

The company was left with an inventory of 3121 that it could no longer sell and that had cost approximately $1 million to make. Revelations' other outlays to develop and distribute the perfume brought its total out of pocket loses to $3.9 million, Mr. Landau said.

Because Prince had defaulted, Mr. Crispo's starting point in assessing damages was that all of Revelations' allegations about the pop star reneging upon his commitments were true.

Mr. Crespo accepted the testimony of Revelations' expert that "celebrity appearances and media interviews are material and important because they are the tools that create excitement in the market for consumers and vendors."

Adopting that line of reasoning, Mr. Crespo found in Revelations Perfume and Cosmetics Inc. v. Prince Rogers Nelson, 603350/08, that Prince's failure to follow through with his commitments was the proximate cause of 3121's marketing collapse and awarded Revelations $3.9 million for expenditures it had made on the product.

Mr. Crespo also rejected Prince's defense that Revelations had a duty to mitigate its losses once it realized he would not follow through on his commitments.

Revelations took "reasonable action" to recover "as much profit as possible to cover the cost of the product," he wrote, while "at the same time pressing Prince to perform as promised."

Mr. Crespo, however, rejected Revelations claim for lost profits as "insufficient and impermissible speculation" based on its own data without independent verification.

The claim was even more tenuous, he wrote, because Revelations never marketed a product line in cooperation with a celebrity of Prince's "caliber."

Revelations' arguments for punitive damages fell far short, Mr. Crespo found. There is "no evidence in the record" to support a finding that Prince acted out of "spite, malice or evil motive" upon which an award of punitive damages could be predicated, he wrote.

Great musician, but those are stank business practices, I don't care who you are.

its always difficult to make an opinion from outside , but at least what can be read in this article this is so typical for Prince , he often changes his mind without having an understandable reason.so when it comes to lawsuit this can get expensive.

but we will get him out of this buyin tix for the next tour in europe

Prince's lawyers filed his reponse to the referee's report:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

electricberet said:

Prince's lawyers filed his reponse to the referee's report:

https://iapps.courts.stat...ystem=prod

Thanks for the update.

I didn't read it all, but by the looks of things, the response is basically saying that since Revelations, by their own testimony, knew that Prince was not going to follow through with his commitment to the fragrance as early as one day after the agreement was executed, they have no claim for damages, because it was their choice to go ahead and spend money producing and promoting a perfume that they themselves said could not be successful without Prince's involvement - involvement he clearly retracted one day after the execution of the agreement.

Weird defense (ie. relies heavily on proving Revelations' immediate knowledge of Prince's "fraud"), but it may just hold up.

It's sad for Revelations - they were clearly in over their heads - but it does seem that they knew full well that he wasn't going to support the venture before they spent millions on it. Maybe they thought he'd come around...