FileHippo News

The latest software and tech news

The artist formerly known as Prince, or Prince, however he likes to be called these days, has been popular in the news lately. And... Prince Drops Lawsuit Against His Fans

The artist formerly known as Prince, or Prince, however he likes to be called these days, has been popular in the news lately. And he hasn’t been in the news for promoting a new album or anything like that, either. He’s been in the news primarily because he decided to drop a lawsuit that was aimed at several of his own fans. You might be wondering why Prince decided to sue his fans in the first place, and apparently he thought he had a pretty good reason – because they recorded random videos of parts of his concert performances and posted them on blogs and sites like Facebook.

Prince must have been seeking out these videos, because he found 22 people and decided to go after them for $1 million each for pirating his performances. So, all in all, Prince was seeking $22 million from those who posted these videos.

Prince Drops Lawsuit Against His Fans

Is He Just Throwing A Fit Over Nothing?

With the advent of smartphones, concerts are a totally different experience. At several concerts in years gone by, cameras (especially video cameras) were banned at the door. You couldn’t even get into the show if you were wearing a camera around your neck, unless of course, you were a member of the press.

Now, with almost everyone in possession of a smartphone with a camera and video camera, those rules are a little harder to enforce. What are they going to do – tell everyone with a ticket that they can’t bring their phone in? I can’t see that ever happening, not if they want people to continue going to concerts.

While I can understand artists and their labels not wanting fans to sell bootlegged material that they’ve recorded off of their phones, etc., I can also understand the urge for fans to post short clips of their concert experience to share with their friends and family. I see it as free advertising – artists and record labels may see it as something else, though.

It seems that Prince dropped his suit when those who posted the videos removed them under legal threats.

What do you think of Prince’s actions?

[Image via hdwallpapervault]

SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25960300