Prince's anti-YouTube crusade halted by American mommy
By Cade Metz
October 30, 2007 00:11 GMT

A Pennsylvania mother of two of has stood-up to the internet-battling escapades of the artist formerly known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. This summer, "mother, wife, writer, and editor" Stephanie Lenz filed a federal lawsuit against the artist's former record label, Universal Music Group, for ordering the removal of a YouTube video in which her eighteen-month-old son boogies to the Prince anthem "Let's Go Crazy."

The funkadelic pop star recently launched a very public crusade against unauthorized use of his name, image, and music catalog across the net, and the word from ABC News is that he personally told Universal to have the video taken down with a wave of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). With her civil action, filed in a California-based federal court, Lenz claims that she was well within her rights when she posted the video, which contains less than 30 seconds of music.

She wants the video clip up, and she wants damages. Well, the video is already back up, so scratch that part. Backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a well-known internet watchdog, Lenz also hopes to teach Prince and his a label a lesson - and protect the rights of file sharers everywhere. "The idea is to keep copyright owners honest," EFF staff attorney Corynne McSherry told The Reg. "To keep them from abusing [the DMCA]."

It's the same lesson laid down by our favorite light-sabre-wielding Jedi Knight. Let's go crazy. In early February, Stephanie Lenz videotaped her eighteen-month-old son Holden as he motored around the family kitchen. "Let's Go Crazy" played in the background, and at one point, the toddler decided it was time to cut a rug. According to the suit, "Let's Go Crazy" had been a favorite of little Holden's ever since he saw Prince perform during halftime of last year's SuperBowl.

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