Don’t expect the back and forth between Jay Z’s Tidal and Prince’s estate to be settled any time soon. The late singer’s benefactors are now suing Tidal and co. for streaming all those wonderful albums on June 7 for what would’ve been Prince’s 58th birthday, per a new report by TMZ.
Prince’s label, NPG Records, reportedly filed suit against Tidal for allegedly illegally streaming the late singer’s music. They contend Prince and Tidal only had a deal that allowed one album, Hit N Run: Phase 1, to be streaming on the service. Anything above and beyond that wasn’t agreed upon so when Jay’s company put up the 15 previously unavailable projects for mass consumption, they broke the law so NPG is suing Roc Nation for copyright infringement and seeking damages in return.
This recent news comes on the heels of Tidal and Roc Nation attempting to gain control of Prince’s catalog back from Universal Music Publishing Group, who signed a deal of their own with Prince’s estate that is said to give the rights to oversee and maintain the “Purple Rain” singer’s music. In papers filed in a Minnesota court, Tidal contends they signed handsome million deal with Prince before his death the supersedes any agreement between UMPG and the estate.
Per the report, NPG listed three pages full of song titles — “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “1999,” “Little Red Corvette,” “Cream,” and more — Tidal allegedly streamed illegally and notes that the damages would be “enormous.”
