Prince Will Be Remembered As Titan Of IP

Prince, the pop icon who died suddenly this week, was a fierce defender of copyrights over his four decade-long career. Prince went after YouTube and Twitter to demand that videos as short as six seconds featuring his music without his permission be taken down. He sued 22 anonymous online fans for $1 million each for posting links to bootlegged videos of his concerts. And in the 1990s, when Prince briefly changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, he sued a Chicago bike messenger who crafted a guitar in the symbol’s image. That case went before Chicago federal appeals court judge Richard Posner, who ruled in favor of Prince.