Prince’s fan Web site has been shut down, but an attorney for the musician says it’s not related to a recent trademark lawsuit against the site, NPGMusicClub.com.
HM Publishing Holdings, a book company in England, filed the lawsuit on July 3 based on its own NPG, a science-book subsidiary called the Nature Publishing Group.
Prince’s attorney, David Schelzel, said Prince already has approval of the name from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and that the legal action is minor.
“Prince’s use of the NPG or Paisley Park trademarks is no way in jeopardy,” Schelzel said. When asked why the site was shut down, Schelzel told the Star Tribune “Wait and see.”
Last month, New York’s RED Distribution announced a deal in which it will be the “sole distributor” of all of Prince’s NPG products. Soon after that, an e-mail was sent out to NPG members saying the site had entered “a time of great reflection and restructuring.”
The online club started around 2000, and it won Prince a Webby Award in June for being an Internet innovator.
“In its current 4m (form), there is a feeling that the NPGMC has gone as far as it can go,” the e-mail said. “The future holds nothing but endless opportunity. Don’t u want 2 come?”