Prince has been known to give his music away for free, but don’t take that as a sign he’s not interested in making his money. He’s now suing 22 bloggers 22 different users of Facebook and Google’s Blogger platform for $1 million a person.
Get this — he doesn’t even know the identity of all the defendants!
Spin reports:
According to the 21-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco (viaAntiquiet), the defendants “engage in massive infringement and bootlegging of Prince’s material.” The lawsuit targets Dan Chodera, Karina Jindrova, and 20 anonymous defendants. Chodera and Jindrova allegedly operated a no-longer-online Facebook account that posted a bunch of bootleg Prince videos. The other defendants — “Does” 1 through 20 — are accused of similar infractions, such as pointing to a 1983 Chicago set from WorldofBootleg.blogspot.com. Hey, we’d like to hear that one.
Prince asks for a jury trial, which, though highly unlikely, would have to make for some fascinating courtroom drama. In addition to the $22 million total in damages, Prince wants the defendants permanently blocked from infringing on his copyrights. He also wants them to forfeit any money they may have made from his music — with interest — and to return any “unlawful materials” to their rightful Purple custody. Oh, and they’d better cover his lawyers’ fees, too.
Do you think he’ll win his lawsuit? Don’t mess with The Purple One!
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