In an extraordinary, but not unfamiliar move, the rock legend Prince is using an army of lawyers to launch attacks on his own fans. 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 belief 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. Prince's representatives have requested that the fansites provide them with "substantive details of the means by which you [the fansites] propose to compensate our clients [Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG)] for damages..."
The owners of the three largest fansites supporting Prince: www.housequake.com, www.princefams.com and www.prince.org supporting Prince have come together to fight back to what amounts to an injustice to the fansites and the very fans who have supported Prince's career, many since the very beginning nearly thirty years ago.
It is their hope that Prince will reconsider his position and allow these fansites to continue their existence without constant threats from Prince and his attorneys. Should this not be possible, the fansites are fully prepared to defend their position in the proper court of law, as well as fully prosecute any claims to which they are justly entitled.
The owners of housequake.com, princefams.com and prince.org acknowledge that, while Prince is entitled to control of his copyrights, it should be within the law. The law clearly provides for displaying of images of a celebrity's likeness for newsworthy events or matters which are considered to be public interest. All three websites feel that the photographs and/or likeness displayed on their websites clearly fall within the public interest category. Additionally, the use of photographs is legal based on the fair use doctrine, i.e. the displaying of album cover art, or the collage headers created by website members using a variety of different photographs.
For housequake.com: Aaron A. Sikkink and Karyn Avera
For princefams.com: Endre Adolfsen and Jonathan Nice
For prince.org: Ben Margolin
For more information, please contact the Prince Fans United Group spokesperson:
Karyn Avera at: pfu@housequake.com.
| Prince minaccia i fan |
| La star del pop al suo pubblico: «Cancellate le mie foto o vi denuncio». Che succede? |
|
I fan, un artista cerca di tenerseli buoni, generalmente. In fondo, successo e vendite dipendono da loro. Ma Prince ha rotto tutte le regole non scritte di una popstar e ha sguinzagliato gli avvocati contro gli appassionati della sua musica per violazione dei diritti d'autore. I legali della star hanno infatti intimato le tre maggiori web-zine di rimuovere immagini, fotografie e cover di album. Soprattutto, gli scatti con tatuaggi raffiguranti Prince o i suoi loghi, e foto delle auto con targhe ispirate al musicista. I rappresentanti dei tre maggiori siti, Prince.org, Princefans.com e Housequake.com, uniti nella coalizione "Prince Fan United", gridano alla censura e contesteranno l'azione legale come un tentativo di «stroncare ogni commento critico su Prince». «E' una mossa veramente futile e miope. - ha commentato Nicola Slade, direttore della newsletter musicale britannica Record of the Day - Prince ha molti fan, e avendo optato per un approccio fuori dal comune per la distribuzione del proprio materiale, dovrebbe coltivare questo rapporto. Sono scioccato». (Libero News) |
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La censura in Rete è praticata - con base di sostanziale e costante brutalità - da 13 Stati: Arabia Saudita, Bielorussia, Cuba, Egitto, Birmania, Cina, Corea del Nord, Iran, Uzbekistan, Siria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Vietnam. Tali Paesi tolgono accesso alle libere informazioni e, anche, imprigionano coloro che attraverso Internet si esprimono "troppo liberamente". Ed in questo istante, in varie parti del mondo, 61 persone subiscono una detenzione in carcere per avere scritto in luoghi della Rete delle esplicite critiche contro i propri governanti.
Per denunciare questi abusi, e per mettere luce su quanto questi Paesi applichino un controllo su uno spazio che dovrebbe sempre essere di piena libertà, Reporters sans frontière lancia l'idea di una "24ore contro la censura in Internet":
Clicca qui per un voto di sostegno a questa iniziativa.
Da: Reporters sans frontières - Reporters Without Borders - Reporteros sin fronteras:
La liste des 13 ennemis d’Internet
Pour dénoncer ces pays qui contrôlent ce qui devrait être un espace de liberté, Reporters sans frontière lance ses "24h contre la censure sur Internet".
Cliquez ici pour parteciper à la cybermanif.
La cybermanif est également accessible sur un site miroir, pour les internautes qui ne peuvent accéder à www.rsf.org
LA LISTE DES 13 ENNEMIS D’INTERNET
Trois pays ont été retirés, cette année, de la liste des ennemis d’Internet: le Népal, les Maldives et la Libye. En revanche, l’Egypte, où de nombreux blogueurs ont été harcelés et emprisonnés cette année, fait son entrée au palmarès des pays enfreignant systématiquement la liberté d’expression sur Internet.
Les pays (par ordre alphabétique)
