Prince’s estate is suing a ‘bootleg label’ dedicated to the late artist

Prince’s estate are set to head to court again in the near future, setting their sights on a ‘bootleg label’ dedicated to the late musician.

Back in the mid-’90s, a record label dedicated to releasing bootleg recordings of artists popped up under the name of Optimum. Over the next decade, the label would change its name to monikers like PM Premium, Ladybird-Records, and New Purple Groovez, but their modus operandi would remain consistent as they delivered unofficial recordings of big-name artists.

While they dabbled in a number of different artists over the years, Prince was arguably one of the label’s most popular, and since changing their name to Eye Records back in 2007, the label focused solely on releasing recordings by Prince, having unleashed more than 80 recordings in just over a decade.

Now, Prince’s estate are taking the label to court.

As TMZ notes, Eye Records is the focus of a new lawsuit, which alleges that the label has sold 18 illegal Prince compilations since the artist’s death in 2016.

Allegedly, Eye Records uses an online store to sell these recordings, which consist of live performances and unreleased studio tracks of varying quality.

“There was nothing more important to Prince than the quality of his music and how his fans experienced it,” explained a representative for Prince’s estate. “With this filing, our hope is to preserve the integrity of the music and remain true to Prince’s wishes.”

“The Prince Estate will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all unlawful distributors and sources of Prince’s intellectual property.”

Prince’s estate are suing Eye Records for an undisclosed amount of monetary damages, though $2 million is being sought for alleged copyright violations by the label.

This lawsuit also comes just days after it was announced that Prince’s estate were launching legal action against Prince’s former doctor, who they claim failed to treat the musician’s opioid addiction.

Check out Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’:

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.