Perhaps a little optimistically, Prince has emailed his New Power Generation Music Club with a list of album rarities – and he wants any fans in possession of said albums to return them! Apparently Prince wants to stop rarity tracks which were released in Europe and Japan by rarity labels working with his former record company Warner Brothers from getting online. Prince himself didn't give permission for these tracks to get released – but he hasn't been able to control the distribution of music recorded between 1978 and 1996 because Warners own the rights to the recordings, and he's not talking to them!
A posting on his official website explains: "Not long ago, an unauthorized version of the concert film 'Sign O' the Times' surfaced online. Supposedly originating in Brazil and distributed by WEA International, this DVD is not something that was approved by Prince or any of his affiliates. We all know that Prince is one of the most bootlegged artists of his generation, and while much of the activity is tolerated, it crosses the line when Prince's [former] record company gets in the mix. The [reason for this request is] to show a federal court the actual truth of this age-old rift between artist and label. Let Prince steward his own catalogue."
But not all his fans were impressed by the suggestion they should return albums from their collections without any form of compensation. One typical posting on the Prince message board: "I bought all those in a shop, so I legally own them, and Prince wants me to send them back free of charge. Fool."
Of course the whole exercise seems to be a bit futile – however many fans decide to send in their unapproved Prince albums, it only needs one copy of any rarity track to be out there for it to get online.