By Kelly Fiveash for The Register. This story was
reproduced with permission.
A number of users of b3ta.com have been slapped with DMCA
(Digital Millenium Copyright Act) notifications after posting
images that poke fun at the pint-sized popstar's ongoing crusade to
rid the internet of unauthorised Prince material.
B3ta co-founder Rob Manuel told The Register that he
was "surprised Prince's lawyers had bitten".
But the legal cudgels worked. In a posting on the site today,
Manuel wrote:
Under threat of legal action
from Princes legal team of "potential closure of your web site" -
We have removed the Prince image challenge and B3ta apologises
unreservedly to AEG / NPG and Prince for any offence caused. We
also ask our members to avoid photoshoping Prince and posting them
on our boards.
Users of the website had overwhelmingly voted for Prince as
their "image challenge of the week" in response to his legal
attempts to take down unauthorised fan sites.
The DMCA notifications claim that B3ta had infringed multiple
copyright (pirate, unauthorised and libellous) owned by Prince, his
record label NPG and entertainment group AEG.
But Manuel argued that the legal noise being made by Prince
against his fans was counterproductive. He said: "It's what often
happens online - web censorship blows up in the censor's face."
Although the notifications do not fall under UK legal
jurisdiction, Web Sheriff, which issued the DMCAs on behalf of
Prince's lawyers, claimed that the individuals could be sued in a
US court if they failed to respond to the take-down request.
Indeed, Kim Walker, intellectual property head at law firm
Pinsent Masons pointed out that while the DMCA itself could not be
enforced in a British court, the claim itself still carried
water.
He said: "The copyright laws in the UK are pretty strict. Many
people assume that images can be used for parody or satire, but
that's not the case.
"While the UK has a concept of 'fair dealing', it stops short of
authorising parody and satire. Many people think that should change
- but that's the way it is for now."
Web Sheriff's John Gaicobbi told El Reg that B3ta and
its users had overstepped the mark.
He said: "I don't think the people who posted them would like to
be on receiving end of that kind of treatment.
"There's poking fun and there's poking fun and people are
clearly taking it too far and crossing over the boundaries of what
is acceptable."
In recent months Prince has stomped on Pirate Bay, an
18-month-old baby having a boogie to one of his songs on YouTube
and three of his most popular unauthorised fan websites.
© The Register
2007
