Back in Napster's controversial days of illegal file-swapping, Metallica led the charge against digital piracy that was running rampant on the site. Fast-forward a few years and witness the rise of individual recording artists once again taking action against illegal use of their musical masterpieces.

Pop star Prince became the latest artist to lash out against unauthorized use of his songs online. On Thursday, Prince announced his intention to sue Google's YouTube property, as well as online auctioneer eBay and file-swapping site Pirate Bay. His goal: to bring digital music pirates to shore and hold them accountable.

Prince hired Web Sheriff, a British company that roots out pirated content on the Internet, to launch a campaign against copyright infringers cashing in on Prince's music. Web Sheriff was not immediately available to comment on its tactics, but legal experts figure the firm will depend on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to get the ball rolling.

"Web Sheriff could do a wide variety of things, including sicking lawyers on individual people. I'm sure the firm will send take-down notices to sites where they find Prince-related materials," said attorney Ilan Barzilay, an associate at Wolf Greenfield in Boston. "It's not that hard to find out who is infringing. All you have to do is search for Prince on these sites and catalog everything that's there."

Following Eminem

Prince's move comes about six weeks after Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, music publisher and copyright manager for rap phenom Eminem, filed a lawsuit against Apple for copyright infringement. Specifically, Eminem's administrative backup filed a federal suit against Apple for allowing consumers to download his rap ramblings onto iPods without permission.

It's not merely one or two songs. The plaintiff claims that Apple violated copyrights for as many as 80 songs, including hits from the Grammy Award-winning "The Eminem Show." The company is asking the court for more than $75,000 as compensation for copyright infringement, unfair competition, and breach of the Michigan consumer protection act, as well a damages of $150,000 for each time a song was downloaded.

"Metallica was one of the point bands in protecting digital rights for artists in the 1990s. But other artists weren't too concerned. So you'll find artists on either end of the spectrum," Barzilay said. "Prince is clearly concerned about unauthorized distribution of materials. He wants to make sure that nobody is taking advantage of his work online. Eminem feels the same."

The PR Strategy

Beyond the legal strategy, hiring Web Sheriff is a PR move, of sorts, for Prince. But could it backfire? Web Sheriff is a high-profile firm whose spokesperson often appears on major broadcast networks to talk about Internet piracy. By hiring Web Sheriff, Barzilay said, Prince gets publicity value and practical value. The only question is how John Q. Public will respond to Prince taking digital copyright matters into his own hands.

"If this gets to the point where Web Sheriff starts taking actions against individuals, the Internet community could start the backlash. Many people involved in online communities view these cases as a David versus Goliath situation," Barzilay said. "If it stays on the level of going after corporate distributors, I don't see it becoming a problem."