Fans Ask Prince: “Why You Wanna Treat Us So Bad?”

Prince’s efforts to “reclaim the Internet” are not sitting well with many of his fans, and three fansites devoted to the Purple One–stung by demands that they “cease and desist all use of photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince’s likeness”–have joined forces to battle their idol in the court of public opinion. On Prince Fans United, the site’s proprietors are saying that their use of many images not only is fair game under the fair use doctrine, it’s probably not the best idea for Prince to antagonize people who actually like him, even if they aren’t showing their appreciation for him by shelling out $3,121 for overpriced concert tickets. (Which may be why the site’s name anagrams to “Prince F.U.”)

Several of the largest web communities dedicated to the artist have received notices to cease and desist all use of photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince’s likeness.

It is our opnion that these threats are not made in an attempt to enforce valid copyright as Prince alleges in his threats, rather we believe they are attempts to stifle all critical commentary about Prince. We strongly believe that such actions are in violation of the freedom of speech and should not be allowed. Prince claims that fansites are not allowed to present any artwork with Prince’s likeness, to the extreme that he has demanded removal of fan’s own photographs of their Prince inspired tattoos and their vehicles displaying Prince inspired license plates.

No idea what those Prince-inspired license plates could have had on them as far as direct references to the purple one, but the “Prince-inspired tattoo” request is probably more troubling; is scouring the Internet for people bearing tattoos of the Purple One the prelude to his legal team showing up at the offending fans’ houses with a laser and a “licensed technician”?

Prince Fans United [Official site]