Prince's Message to Everyone: Stop Bootlegging My Stuff

Prince has a message 4 U: Stop UR illegal downloading! To prove he means business, the Purple One is prepping lawsuits against major file-trading sites like YouTube, eBay and Pirate Bay to reclaim control over bootlegged tunes, videos and merchandise. No legal docs have been filed, but the singer recently hired London-based company Web Sheriff, which has been trolling the Net for sites selling unlicensed goods (everything from Prince-adorned socks to key rings) to provide evidence should the star decide to take the battle to court. "This isn't necessarily about money," says Web Sheriffâ's president John Giacobbi, who has wiped off 2,000 illegally uploaded videos from YouTube and shut down about 300 eBay auctions, as well as multiple multiple overseas sites selling unauthorized merchandise. "Prince feels very strongly about his artistry -- he wants it to be reflected the way he wants. There's no problem with some guy selling his twenty-five-year-old copy of Purple Rain, but we object to a Chinese sweatshop turning out Purple Rain shopping bags and selling them by the thousands."

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

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