Odds & Ends: Prince, Justin Bieber, U2, Courtney Love

Prince has fired up his legal machine to launch copyright infringement lawsuits against a few fans, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

Prince, who in 2010 stated that the internet “is completely over,” has targeted two fans in his latest legal action as well as 20 people listed either as “Doe” or referred to by the names of their websites.

What got his purple dander up was two people named in the suit – Dan Chodera and Karina Jindrova – who allegedly posted setlists of Prince’s performances on their blogs and/or Facebook pages along with links to bootleg recordings made at the shows.

Although Prince has launched internet-related lawsuits in the past, including an unsuccessful legal action against torrent site The Pirate Bay, the Telegraph notes that some fans aren’t all that happy with their hero’s latest filing.  On Prince.org one fan posted, “Is this a joke? What a black day in Prince history.”

How many people do you think will take a break from the Super Bowl this Sunday to download a new U2 song?  Oh, and did we mention that it’s a free tune?

It’s all part of a partnership between U2, Bank of America and (Red), the organization founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise corporate donations for the fight against AIDS.  The alliance is expected to raise more than $10 million for its ongoing battle against the disease. 

The partnership will launch its latest campaign with an advertisement scheduled to run on Fox Television during the Super Bowl broadcast featuring U2 performing the new song, “Invisible.”  Beginning that same day the song will be available as a limited release on iTunes for 24 hours.  During that time Bank of America will donate $1 per download up to $2 million total, to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  The fund combats AIDS in the world’s poorest countries.

“Bank of America coming on as a (Red) partner to help the Global Fund’s efforts to eliminate AIDS is great news,” Bono said. “It’s the kind of game-changing influence that will not just deliver millions of dollars but raise consciousness and keep public pressure on putting an end to this devastating pandemic which has already taken the lives of 35 million people.  And just in … the bank’s commitment of $10 million has resulted in the Gates Foundation, SAP and Africa’s Motsepe Family matching for a total of $22 million.  Incredible.”

More details await you at BankOfAmerica.com/RED.

Surveillance camera footage suggests that Justin Bieber wasn’t exactly drag racing in Miami shortly before police arrested the teen singer for allegedly driving while under the influence. 

Although police claimed Bieber was drag racing right before he was arrested, surveillance video posted by CBS 4 shows the singer driving a yellow Lamborghini slowly down a street while followed by other automobiles, including a red Ferrari driven by R&B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff.  Following the procession was a police car.  GPS devices placed in Bieber’s and Sharieff’s cars reported the drivers were traveling no faster than 27 mph, according to celebrity gossip site TMZ.

As you might guess, Bieber’s run in with Miami law enforcement is a big deal at TMZ.  But then, just about everything the singer does ends up as fodder for the nosy newser.  Yesterday, the site reported that Bieber manager Scooter Braun, along with soul singer/mentor Usher, had flown down to Panama to “talk some sense into” the teen idol.

And remember that ad campaign Bieber did in 2012 with anti-zit cream company Proactiv?  TMZ reports that Proactiv co-creator Dr. Kathy Fields saw Bieber’s mugshot and couldn’t help noticing the star’s facial blemishes.  But don’t worry.  She’s sending The Bieb Proactiv+ and X-Out to take care of those embarrassing facial eruptions.

Last week ended with good news for Courtney Love.  A California jury cleared the Hole singer of libeling her former lawyer.

Filed in 2011, the lawsuit stated that a 2010 tweet by Love claimed that Rhonda Holmes, an attorney who represented her in planned litigation against the estate of her late husband Kurt Cobain, was “bought off,” according to Reuters.

Although the jury ruled 11-1 that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that the message wasn’t true and that the tweet could have damaged the plaintiff’s reputation, it also decided 9-3 that Holmes’ attorneys didn’t prove Love knew that she was tweeting false information and could not be held liable.

Love was also cleared of comments alleged to have defamed a Canadian broadcaster.

It is believed that the lawsuit was the first of its kind involving remarks made via Twitter.  But you can bet it won’t be the last.