Last night (April 18), a new EP of previously unreleased Prince material was announced. However, the record has already sparked a lawsuit to prevent its release.
As previously reported, the Deliverance EP is due out on Friday (April 21) — the one year anniversary of Prince's death — via the Vancouver-WA indie RMA. Now, though, Paisley Park Enterprises has filed a lawsuit in attempts to block its release, NPR reports
The suit was reportedly filed last Friday (April 14) in Minnesota district court and was moved to federal court yesterday. It claims George Ian Boxill — who co-wrote and co-produced EP's songs with Prince between 2006 and 2008 — signed a confidentiality agreement that stated all of his work with the Purple One "would remain Prince's sole and exclusive property."
UPDATE (4/20, 1 a.m. EDT): As TMZ reports, the court has now ruled in the estate's favour, meaning the EP will not come out on Friday after all. Following the release getting pulled from iTunes earlier today, a federal judge granted the estate's request for a restraining order, effectively blocking the release for now. Boxill has also been ordered to turn over all recordings to the estate. The restraining order expires on May 3 unless there is an extension. Another hearing is schedule to address the case before then.
Minneapolis radio station KSTP quotes the lawsuit as stating, the release is in breach of that agreement and "deprives Prince (and now the Estate) from choosing what is released to the public and when."
As of yet, Boxill and RMA have yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit. As of press time, however, Deliverance, which is set to arrive digitally and on CD, is still available for pre-order on iTunes.
As previously reported, though, the EP will only be released in the U.S. "in order to comply with licensing laws."
As previously reported, the Deliverance EP is due out on Friday (April 21) — the one year anniversary of Prince's death — via the Vancouver-WA indie RMA. Now, though, Paisley Park Enterprises has filed a lawsuit in attempts to block its release, NPR reports
The suit was reportedly filed last Friday (April 14) in Minnesota district court and was moved to federal court yesterday. It claims George Ian Boxill — who co-wrote and co-produced EP's songs with Prince between 2006 and 2008 — signed a confidentiality agreement that stated all of his work with the Purple One "would remain Prince's sole and exclusive property."
UPDATE (4/20, 1 a.m. EDT): As TMZ reports, the court has now ruled in the estate's favour, meaning the EP will not come out on Friday after all. Following the release getting pulled from iTunes earlier today, a federal judge granted the estate's request for a restraining order, effectively blocking the release for now. Boxill has also been ordered to turn over all recordings to the estate. The restraining order expires on May 3 unless there is an extension. Another hearing is schedule to address the case before then.
Minneapolis radio station KSTP quotes the lawsuit as stating, the release is in breach of that agreement and "deprives Prince (and now the Estate) from choosing what is released to the public and when."
As of yet, Boxill and RMA have yet to respond publicly to the lawsuit. As of press time, however, Deliverance, which is set to arrive digitally and on CD, is still available for pre-order on iTunes.
As previously reported, though, the EP will only be released in the U.S. "in order to comply with licensing laws."