HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Radiohead is waging a war against Prince after the singer performed their song "Creep" at the Coachella Music Festival and then went about contacting YouTube to take down videos of his performance.
"Really? He's blocked it?" Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke asked, when contacted by Billboard.com. "Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment."
The "Purple" one's claim to copyright ownership is debatable on two fronts. For starters, the song isn't his, but even more bizarre is the fact that the videos that appeared on YouTube were all shot by fans.
Yorke said he heard about Prince's rendition via a text message and thought it was "hilarious." Unfortunately, by the time he and his fellow bandmates went online to watch the April 26 performance, Prince's label, NPG Records, had already filed a copyright violation with YouTube.
Last September, Prince announced his plans to sue YouTube and eBay for unauthorized use of his music and likeness, saying he "believes artists as the creators and owners of their music need to reclaim their art."
"YouTube ... are clearly able (to) filter porn and pedophile material but appear to choose not to filter out the unauthorized music and film content which is core to their business success," he said in a statement.
Yorke has a message for Prince, who has long fought to control his public image and was once known as an unpronounceable symbol.
"Tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song," he said.
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