Legal action threatened over free Prince album chart block
More controversy over Prince album giveaway
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Friday, 13, Jul 2007 06:20
Legal action has been threatened over the decision to ban copies of Prince's new album given away in this weekend's Mail on Sunday from counting towards the UK's official chart.
The full version of the US singer's Planet Earth album, his 24th studio effort, is being bundled with 2.9 million copies of the paper this weekend.
The Mail on Sunday has insisted that sales of its paper and therefore the album be counted towards Sunday's chart.
But the Official UK Charts Company says it cannot validate album sales given away with newspapers as they do not constitute "genuine consumer purchases".
This stance prompted Stephen Miron, managing director at the Sunday tabloid, to threaten the chart firm with court action.
"Given our belief that this album should still be included on the official UK album charts and having responded to your issues, I would urge you to reconsider your previous position as a matter of urgency, before we engage our lawyers for legal advice to force a challenge to this restraint on our trade," he said in an official correspondence.
Retailers have already expressed their anger at the decision to give away Prince's album with the newspaper, which has reportedly cost it £250,000.