This article is more than 13 years old

This article is more than 13 years old

Prince is threatening to sue a raft of major websites, including YouTube, eBay and Pirate Bay, as part of a legal initiative to "reclaim the internet" from rampant piracy.

Lawsuits relating to Prince's material will be launched in the US and UK as part of a campaign led by anti-piracy firm Web Sheriff, which is representing the star.

The Web Sheriff managing director, John Giacobbi, said the extent of piracy online has become "ridiculous", spanning videos, music downloads, bootleg merchandise and unlicenced ringtones.

"99% of the stuff online is totally unauthorised," he told MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"Someone has to start somewhere and we know this will make a serious impact - a hell of a lot of artists are going to follow suit.

"We have to build a 21st century model for the entertainment industry."

Mr Giacobbi described YouTube, eBay and Pirate Bay as being in "the vanguard" of online piracy and said he hoped that once cases against those companies had been won, smaller sites would be more respectful.

In the past two weeks, Prince's legal representatives have requested the removal of around 2,000 illegally uploaded videos from YouTube.

Mr Giacobbi said the action was not intended to place blame on web users, but said artists should have the right to control their own work, where it is experienced and how their image is portrayed.

He questioned why YouTube was able to filter porn from the site, but not copyrighted material.

A spokeswoman for YouTube said the site "had no way of knowing" whether content had been uploaded legitimately or not.

Many artists upload their own material to YouTube, and on some occasions, she added, one part of a company had requested the takedown of material uploaded by another division.

The spokeswoman said the company will be introducing video fingerprinting technology that will scan videos for copyrighted material as they are uploaded, and will work with rights owners to build a database of such footage.

Prince joins a queue of media entities planning to sue YouTube. In March, MTV owner Viacom announced a $1bn copyright infringement suit against the site, and in May the English Premier League said it would also sue.

Mr Giacobbi described Prince as being a "radical and pioneering" artist, citing his spat with Warner in the early 90s when he changed his name to The Artist Formerly Known as Prince in order to regain control of his own rights.

Prince "wants to create a template for other artists", he added. "Prince doesn't really want to go around suing people - he'd much rather people just respected his rights. He will be victorious."

A spokeswoman for Anschutz Entertainment Group, Prince's tour management company, said the performer is ready to challenge the system. "Very few artists have ever taken this kind of action over their rights," she added.

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