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Prince stomps on unofficial websites

Gett Off my copyright, Sexy Mofo

Prince Rogers Nelson has threatened to throw a sue ball at a number of unofficial websites that carry images, lyrics and album covers of the preened, pint-sized 1980s star.

The artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince formerly known as a wonky symbol has been stomping around making all kinds of legal noises about fans breaching copyright on the internet.

Prince, who has penned hits that include Purple Rain and When Doves Cry, has instructed his lawyers to demand that the three biggest unofficial Prince websites remove all copyrighted content or risk being sued.

But fans have refused to take it lying down with the three websites joining forces under the moniker Prince Fans United (PFU) to fight any legal action from the American star.

According to the Times, Housequake.com, Princefams.com and Prince.org had received legal "cease and desist" notices.

Somewhat bafflingly, PFU has claimed that the legal order related to photographs taken by fans of their own personalised Prince number plates and tattoos.

It reckoned the star's lawyers had asked the three websites to cough up "details of the means by which you propose to compensate our clients".

As we reported previously, an 18-month-old was caught up in Prince's crusade to rid the interweb of unauthorised plays of his epic, squeaking pop ballads because the kid's mommy had been audacious enough to post a video on YouTube of the little'un having a boogie to one of the star's songs.

But, mom Stephanie Lenz, backed by web watchdog Electronic Frontier Foundation, filed a federal lawsuit against the artist's former record label, Universal Music Group, for ordering the removal of the video.

In recent months, the Minnesota-born pop star and his legal team have ordered YouTube, eBay and The Pirate Bay to remove hundreds of supposedly Prince-infringing web items. ®

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