Webware has posted the following: In an attempt to “reclaim the Internet,” Prince is preparing to file lawsuits against YouTube, eBay and The Pirate Bay, for allegedly encouraging copyright violations, according to one of his representatives. The rock star has hired Web Sheriff, a British-based company that specializes in policing the Web for pirated content, to launch a legal campaign against companies that wrongfully profit from the artist’s work, according to John Giacobbi, Web Sheriff’s president.
Prince plans to file suit in both the United States and the U.K., and has hired a top Swedish law firm to take action against The Pirate Bay, a BitTorrent tracking site, Giacobbi said on Thursday. Prince has chosen a legal course because sites like YouTube and eBay have left him no other effective way to protect his copyright on their sites, according to Giacobbi.
Prince first hired Web Sheriff to patrol the Web for illegal uses of his material, and then to send “take-down notices” to sites when they found pirated material, Giacobbi said. But he added that sending written notices had little impact.
“In the past couple of weeks, we have removed about 2,000 infringing clips from YouTube,” Giacobbi said. “We get them down and the next day, there are 100 or 200 more. Their business model is built on making money off other people’s creative work.” (more…)