Can Prince Remove YouTube Video of Performance of Radiohead's 'Creep'?

Posted by Matthew Heller

Prince, one of the music industry's most vigilant copyright enforcers, has used the "takedown" provision of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to remove from YouTube a video of him performing the song "Creep" at a recent concert -- even though the song was by Radiohead.

Numerous videos of artists performing at this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have been showing up on YouTube. But Prince took exception to the posting of his "Creep" performance and had his record company, NPG Records, file a DMCA takedown notice.

Told of Prince's action, Radiohead singer Thom Yorke expressed surprise. "Really? He's blocked it?" the AP quoted him as saying. "Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment." He then added: "Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song."

Yorke may need to bone up on his IP law, however. Apparently, Prince had licensed the performance rights for "Creep" and under U.S. law a performer can block reproduction of a performance of someone else's material.

In June 2007, Prince used the DMCA to take down a YouTube video of a toddler dancing to "Let's Go Crazy." The toddler's mother then sued the song's publisher, Universal Music, for misrepresenting that the video infringed on its copyright.