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Prince Remembered As Tenacious Copyright Protection Defender – Fans Have Difficulty Finding His Music

Category: Copyright Law

Prince leaves behind a legacy beyond musical genius – shining light on some of the most controversial music copyright cases of the 21st century and leaving fans frantic to get a hold of his music in the few places it can be found.

The sudden death of Prince, 57, ignited a wave of respect and remembrance for the iconic artist’s contribution to the world. Prince was a musical genius, an innovator, a leader, a humble humanitarian and one of the most determined copyright protection defenders of our time.

Now that he has passed, it is challenging for fans to mourn his death by listening to his music – as it cannot be found on many of the most popular streaming and downloading services.

“When Doves Cry,” is not on Spotify. “Kiss” is nowhere to be found on Apple Music. “Purple Rain” is not on his official YouTube or VEVO Channel – because his channel does not exist.
Just last year, after multiple court battles and a long devotion to artist’s rights advocacy, Prince withdrew his music from all streaming services, except for Tidal.

The social media era is here to stay in the 21st century and websites, like YouTube, have been the center of copyright protection controversy. However, music legend, Prince, was not afraid of firing back when he felt his rights were being compromised.

In one of the biggest music copyright cases, known as “the dancing baby” case, Prince demanded that Universal Music Corp. force YouTube to take down a 29-second home video of a baby dancing to his song “Let’s Go Crazy.”

“Prince believes it is wrong for YouTube, or any user-generated site, to appropriate his music without his consent,” Universal said, in defense of the takedown notice.

Unfortunately for Prince, the court ruled against Universal Music Corp., concluding that the company did not consider whether or not the video qualified for fair use before ripping it off the Internet.

 

What determines fair use?

Fair use law states that a copyright material may, under certain circumstances, be quoted verbatim for purposes including criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research, without the need for permission from or payment to the copyright holder.

Although Prince did not win this case, it did spark fervor in the music industry – perhaps kindling other stars like Taylor Swift, for example, to fight for their rights. Swift has gone on to remove her music from multiple streaming sites and has gotten into a dispute with Spotify.

Prince then released his album 20TEN exclusively in CD format. “I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else,” Prince said. “They won’t pay me an advance for it, and then they get angry when they can’t get it.”

In 1993, Prince’s label Warner Bros. offered him a lucrative contract in exchange for control over his masters in his early work. However, Prince was left without control of his work and without the advances promised. He revolted.

Scratching the word “SLAVE” onto his cheek and deeming himself “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince,” Prince was eventually was freed of the label. He then released a triple CD called Emancipation.

Prince once compared his fight for artists’ rights to the scene in, “The Wizard of Oz,” where the curtain is pulled back to see what’s really happening behind the scenes in the recording industry.

Where does copyright law stand today? Although there are services that search for artists’ content and assign ownership to it, and the company does try to pull down videos that impinge copyright laws, can these services keep up with the demand? Can piracy ever be eliminated? With 6-second videos on Vine, and hundreds of thousands of videos with music content being uploaded to video daily, can the issue ever be resolved?

Going forward, we must consider these issues on case by case basis – determining if a video, for instance, constitutes fair use.

Music artists must also control their music as best they can, and decide which services will offer their songs for streaming or download as well as demand proper compensation for their work.

Prince may not have won all of his copyright legal battles, but he certainly left an imprint in our culture and opened our eyes to the injustices and ambiguities 21st century technology impose. He will certainly be missed.