Prince’s estate suing over ‘exploitative’ new EP

New EP 'Deliverance' features unreleased music and marks the one-year anniversary of his death

Prince‘s estate have filed a lawsuit over a surprise new EP of unreleased music from the singer that is set to be released this Friday (April 21) to mark the one-year anniversary of his death.

The six-song ‘Deliverance’ EP features “new, undiscovered studio recordings” that Prince cut between 2006 and 2008. It features a four-movement medley called ‘Man Opera’ which contains the songs ‘I Am’, ‘Touch Me’, ‘Sunrise Sunset’ and ‘No One Else’, and is rounded off by an extended version of ‘I Am’.

Prince co-wrote and co-produced the EP’s songs with Ian Boxill, who completed the tracks following his death last year. Local reports now state that both Paisley Park and Prince’s estate have filed a joint lawsuit against Boxill, accusing him of “trying to exploit one or more songs for his personal gain at expense of the Prince estate”.

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The lawsuit argues that Boxill signed a confidentiality agreement with the late star that stated that all music they worked on “would remain Prince’s sole and exclusive property.” It is also claimed that Boxill agreed that he “would not use any recordings or property in any way whatsoever” and that “he would return any such recordings or property to Prince immediately upon request.”

Prince

Prince’s estate and Paisley Park claim the EP release would hurt its interests “permanently and irreparably” and that “it deprives Prince (and now the estate) from choosing what is released to the public and when”.

The suit seeks from the return of “any and all masters, copies and reproductions”.

Boxill has previously said in a press release: “I believe ‘Deliverance’ is a timely release with everything going on in the world today, and in light of the one-year anniversary of his passing. I hope when people hear Prince singing these songs it will bring comfort to many.”

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He also explained why the EP is being released independently, saying: “Prince once told me that he would go to bed every night thinking of ways to bypass major labels and get his music directly to the public. When considering how to release this important work, we decided to go independent because that’s what Prince would have wanted.”

‘Deliverance’ will get a physical release on June 2.

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