Prince: I'm Not Suing Fansites

Prince has refuted claims by several fansites that he is suing them or trying to shut them down in any way.

Earlier this week three sites said they received legal notices asking them to remove to remove all “photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince's likeness.”

In a statement about the notices Prince said: "Prince is not suing his fans, is not looking to penalise fans and nor is he looking to or inhibiting freedom of speech in any way. In fact, he is simply looking to provide Prince fans with exclusive music and images entirely free of charge, and bypassing unofficial and unauthorised phoney fan sites that exploit both consumers and artists.

"The action taken earlier this week was not to shut down fansites, or control comment in any way. The issue was simply to do with in regards to copyright and trademark of images and only images, and no lawsuits have been filed.

"The three sites in question have falsely positioned themselves as representatives of millions of Prince fans. In fact, many have come out in support of Prince at his official site and even on the message boards of the unofficial sites in question.

"Mediation between the parties is currently resolving the matter."

The main bone of contention Prince has with the fan sites is about photographs of his 21 date O2 Arena residency earlier this year.

The statement added: "Prince is breaking new ground as the first artist to take on the world's largest internet pirates bootleggers, including the notorious The Pirate Bay who have been misrepresenting themselves as a site for 'the fans'.

"They are in fact exploiting copyrighted material for their commercial gain. The site has flouted constant legal notices from artists and corporations throughout the world while cashing in on advertising monies.

“All the time, they keep up the pretence of being an anarchist, 'free music' fansite when it is really a massive money-making venture."