From https://www.facebook.com/...465765774/ :

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I'll long remember the conversation I had with one of Prince's attorneys when I represented Uptown Magazine in the suit he had brought against the publication in the late 1990s. That suit is, perhaps justly, remembered as one of the low points in his career-- in essence a suit against his most ardent fans. The attorney told me that Prince felt that Uptown was eroding his ability to tell his story through the autobiography he eventually intended to create. Prince felt that he should have sole control and ownership over his own biographical story, and that a fanzine devoted solely to discussion about him eroded that ownership right.

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Still a crap reason

Alex Hahn.... the bastion of truth.

I assumed that's what the lawsuit was all about -- control of his image. It backfired on him.

What a fantastic magazine Uptown was. Much props and thanks to Per Nilsson and his team. They set the standard for documenting Prince's work.

The reason for that lawsuit was the bootlegging ( Madhouse ) that Uptown was associated with.

I have damn near every issue of Uptown and I hated it's gone but that's what happened.

Like he said in "Face Down" "Talk to your lawyer but you got no case." But he may be have other causes he could use to go after them.

muleFunk said:

The reason for that lawsuit was the bootlegging ( Madhouse ) that Uptown was associated with.

That doesn't seem to be the case at all.

milesb said:

What a fantastic magazine Uptown was. Much props and thanks to Per Nilsen and his team. They set the standard for documenting Prince's work.

Very true. I think Prince understood that, too. With so much music, and someone documenting it, it had to be a compliment, and it certainly wasn't the first time a fan has done that for an artist's catalog.

DanceMusicSexRomance is still a book I use for reference. I looked at it yesterday, in fact. I was listening to "Holly Rock" on Originals, and he mentioned "my toy box." That seemed to be some thing with him and Sheila. So I looked to see what was written first - "Holly Rock" or "Toy Box." Which one fed into the other, I wondered.

Sheila did that whole stupid schtick in that SanFran show with a toy box. It was a show killer.

I don't know why people shit on Hahn so much. Wait - I do. Because he put "the fall" in his book title. (eye roll) Prince fans are fragile babies when it comes to criticizing their dude. They can do it, but others can't. It's hypocritical bullshit at its best. He has no reason to lie this issue. He gets no payoff from it.

Never read Uptown. Never had any interest in fanzines.

Prince's reason makes sense, albeit in his own crazy way.

All those saying he was being crazy, controlling and litigious as he always was, do you even lift?

SantanaMaitreya said:

And he had a book to sell, so there was a payoff.

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The enduring nonsense that there's lotsa money to be earned from writing books about Prince endures.

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I was and will always be about the money. Anything solely dedicated to him meant they were potentially making money off his work and he did not approve of it. He failed to realize the value that all of this activity brought to him. I for one would have stooped following him long ago had it not been for some of these unauthorized channels especially bootlegs. There were points in his career that I did not like his current output. Bootlegs, trading and making friends all over the world, fansites like this one and Housequake, kept me plugged in until I connected with his future output which always happened.

I will go to me grave knowing that as far as I am concerned none of this ever took a dollar from him. I still bought ever official release, attended every show when he was reasonably near and always signed up for ever official fan club or website he authorized.

I will always wonder what could have been had he not gone after his core fans the way he did.

BartVanHemelen said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

And he had a book to sell, so there was a payoff.

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The enduring nonsense that there's lotsa money to be earned from writing books about Prince endures.

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And you've read every single one of them, as to make red ink marks in the margins, and subsequently rant about it on the internet somewhere.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

If prince had his way he would have even stopped sites like this discussing him. All so he could control his image and story. Something to think about.

Yeah, if you're a fascist.

milesb said:

What a fantastic magazine Uptown was. Much props and thanks to Per Nilsson and his team. They set the standard for documenting Prince's work.

Per Nielsen

love2thenines2003 said:

This sue has provoked at that time the end of Uptown Mag. and the best Prince Forum until now .....Housequake.org.....Prince was a real hasshole sometimes! [Edited 8/21/21 8:11am]

housequake.com

BartVanHemelen said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

I didn't say lotsa money. But there still was a product hè wanted to sell.

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I mean, how crazy is it that an author wants his books to be read? What a monster! Quelle conspiracy!

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You lot invent these ridiculous things and yet nothing you say ever amount to anything, other than proving you're butthurt that someone dared to slightly lift the veil and expose Prince's flaws.

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"well he was Uptown's lawyer" -- yes he was, so what? All that means he had some inside knowledge and access to much more info than most people and he got to see a lot of the ugly behind the scenes stuff up close.

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I mean, Prince changed his name to get out from under a fucking contract, a bafflingly infantile bit of reasoning. But what Hahn says here is unbelievable?

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We already knew that Prince behaved like an asshole to fan publications, the simple fact that so many of them folded after getting into close contact with Prince speaks volumes. What happened to Sevenmag was already pretty bad from what we knew at the time, and years later Vicki revealed the harassment from the Prince camp actually started much earlier than we knew, and was much worse. Or look at how Housequake at some point just couldn't be bothered anymore and gave up after years and years of ill treatment. Controversy magazine, Crystal Ball magazine, The Prince Family,... all these people who spent unimaginable amounts of time and money and effort on supporting Prince -- and they all just called it quits after getting nothing but misery from Prince and his camp.

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(Now compare that to Nine Inch Nails: a thriving community of fans who've often gone to extreme lengths to support their favorite artist and who've been repayed to support from Trent et al. Just imagine something like https://ninlive.com/ for Prince. Or the extensive amount of work that was put into https://www.nin.wiki/ (which includes for instance explanations for obscure references in songs or lists of recurring phrases and themes etc.). https://nincatalog.com/ . https://www.nintourhistory.com/ .)

At the end of the story the man had a right to make money off his image and likeness.
I have almost every issue of Uptown and Controversy but I understood why he didn't want others profiting off his likeness.

ludwig said:

BartVanHemelen said:

SantanaMaitreya said:

I didn't say lotsa money. But there still was a product hè wanted to sell.

.

I mean, how crazy is it that an author wants his books to be read? What a monster! Quelle conspiracy!

.

You lot invent these ridiculous things and yet nothing you say ever amount to anything, other than proving you're butthurt that someone dared to slightly lift the veil and expose Prince's flaws.

.

"well he was Uptown's lawyer" -- yes he was, so what? All that means he had some inside knowledge and access to much more info than most people and he got to see a lot of the ugly behind the scenes stuff up close.

.

I mean, Prince changed his name to get out from under a fucking contract, a bafflingly infantile bit of reasoning. But what Hahn says here is unbelievable?

.

We already knew that Prince behaved like an asshole to fan publications, the simple fact that so many of them folded after getting into close contact with Prince speaks volumes. What happened to Sevenmag was already pretty bad from what we knew at the time, and years later Vicki revealed the harassment from the Prince camp actually started much earlier than we knew, and was much worse. Or look at how Housequake at some point just couldn't be bothered anymore and gave up after years and years of ill treatment. Controversy magazine, Crystal Ball magazine, The Prince Family,... all these people who spent unimaginable amounts of time and money and effort on supporting Prince -- and they all just called it quits after getting nothing but misery from Prince and his camp.

.

(Now compare that to Nine Inch Nails: a thriving community of fans who've often gone to extreme lengths to support their favorite artist and who've been repayed to support from Trent et al. Just imagine something like https://ninlive.com/ for Prince. Or the extensive amount of work that was put into https://www.nin.wiki/ (which includes for instance explanations for obscure references in songs or lists of recurring phrases and themes etc.). https://nincatalog.com/ . https://www.nintourhistory.com/ .)

Just curious, Bart, could we start a thread that lists all the things you do like about Prince?

Or would that be the org's shortest thread ever?

JorisE73 said:

ludwig said:

housequake.com

great correction on Nilsen.

Damn! You're right.

muleFunk said:

At the end of the story the man had a right to make money off his image and likeness.
I have almost every issue of Uptown and Controversy but I understood why he didn't want others profiting off his likeness.

Sure he did and the estate does now. But so does anyone else. You can not copyright facts or history. As to his likeness: it gets a little more complicated as the nature of how it is sold comes into play. And some of that is dependant on who owns a given image.

to be protected by copyright it must be in a form that is repoducable.


Andy Warhol violated the copyright of a Prince image when he reproduced a recognisable painting of it... but in that case the victim was not Prince or the estate but the owner of the image Lynn Goldsmith.

BartVanHemelen said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said: