Prince Fights YouTube, eBay Over Copyrighted Content
Published September 20th, 2007
Music industry icon Prince is picking a fight with YouTube LLC over unauthorized use of video content on the video-sharing Web site.
To staunch the flow of copyrighted content, Prince hired John Giacobbi, an Internet policing specialist, and president of Web Sheriff, a company that polices the Internet for copyright and trademark infringements. Giacobbi, based in Marlborough, England, said he has been successful on Prince’s behalf in getting YouTube to remove thousands of unauthorized files from its Web site. However, he said users then repost the files, so the next day 100 to 200 new files may have been uploaded to the site.
“We notify YouTube of infringements and they remove the files, but it goes on ad infinitum at Prince’s expense,” he said. “Now the onus is on artists and rights’ creators to police YouTube at their expense. But there’s a problem with that. It’s copyright infringement because no one’s been given permission to upload these things, let alone YouTube.”
Prince may also take on YouTube in court if necessary, Giacobbi said. “Prince has always stood up for his rights and been proactive in that respect,” he said. “It’s important to have control of your rights online in this digital age and not leave it to rampant piracy.”
A spokeswoman for YouTube said the company has a good relationship with copyright owners.
Giacobbi said Prince is also going after eBay for allowing the sale of unauthorized product lines, including Prince clocks, socks, dolls and mouse pads. He said Prince is also considering legal action against the Web auction site.
“Ebay is doing nothing to stop it,” he said. “The onus is on us to notify eBay that something is infringing and they [take action], but they’re a multibillion dollar company and they should have the resources to more efficiently audit and police their own Web site.”
Ebay said it couldn’t comment on rumors of a lawsuit.
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