Circulating images from books, released or unreleased, is copyright infringement. It happened with Steve Parkeās book, it happened with Mayteās book, and itās happening with Afshinās book that comes out next week. In addition to being illegal, itās a crappy thing to do, and the authors DO care when their work is leaked and circulated online without their permission (and usually without credit).Ā
If youāre bummed you wonāt be able to see all the amazing One Night Alone era photos or get a peak into 3121 parties from Afshinās book, or youāre a die hard Rave-era fan and desperate for more stories of that time from Steve Parke, fear not, there is a way you can see them all - BUY THE BOOKS! I know, itās a crazy concept, but thatās how it works! Prince himself shouted it from the rooftops pretty much his entire career - not everything can or should be available online for free, the best we can do is support artists by paying them fairly for their work.Ā
Itās pretty easy to click the reblog button especially when itās a new, exciting photo and weāre all guilty of it (myself included), but the very least you can do is try to avoid circulating a photo or story if you know it is leaked from a book, and certainly donāt circulate photos or stories from books yourself. The best we can do is support these artists by buying legitimate copies of their works and respecting copyrights.Ā
SOME BOOKS TO CONSIDER FOR EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS AND STORIES:
Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait by Steve Parke
Prince: A Private View by Afshin ShahidiĀ
Prince: Chapter and Verse, A Life in Photographs by Mobeen Azhar
The Most Beautiful: My Life With Prince by Mayte Garcia
The Rise of Prince: 1958-1988 by Alex Hahn and Laura Tiebert
Dig If You Will the Picture: Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince by Ben Greenman
The Gold Experience: Following Prince in theĀ ā90s by Jim Walsh
Prince: Fashion offered by Paisley Park
Prince: Guitar & Bass offered by Paisley Park
Prince: Paisley Park offered by Paisley Park
