Release of Prince’s “Deliverance” Blocked by Estate Restraining Order

Summary: A judge has blocked the Friday release of Prince’s new EP “Deliverance.”

The dance party stopped this week when a federal judge blocked Friday’s release of Prince’s “Deliverance,” a six-song EP that the late musician recorded between 2006 and 2008.

A United States District Court judge in Minnesota granted a temporary restraining order to Prince’s estate, and the order blocks Friday’s planned release of “Deliverance.”

On Tuesday, “Deliverance”‘s producers surprised Prince’s fans by announcing that they were going to sell “New undiscovered Prince recordings.” “Deliverance’s” first track was available on iTunes and other online retailers earlier this week, and Rolling Stone described it as “opening with a fierce blues riff before settling into a steady gospel-tinged groove.” The last five songs on the EP were supposed to come out on Friday, marking the anniversary of Prince’s death.

After U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright blocked the release of “Deliverance,” the single was removed.

Prince died on April 21, 2016 from a drug overdose. He was found in an elevator inside of his estate, Paisley Park, in Minnesota; and investigators are looking into who gave Prince the drugs that killed him and how long he had been a user.

Prince’s death was unexpected, and he did not leave a will. As his family members and people who claim to be long-lost family members battle over who will run his estate, they are also fighting to protect his brand. That’s why on Wednesday, the estate sued George Ian Boxill, “Deliverance”‘s co-producer, for releasing the music without their permission.

“The Estate is taking immediate legal actions to prevent Mr. Boxill’s continuing violations of his agreement and the rights of the Estate and its partners in Prince’s recordings,” the estate said on Wednesday. “Any dissemination of the recordings and underlying music compositions, or fixation of the same in any audiovisual work or otherwise, is unauthorized and in violation of the Estate’s rights to the master recordings and musical compositions.”

A judge ruled that night in favor of the plaintiffs, and he wrote that Boxill was not allowed to disseminate Prince’s work because that violated a confidentiality agreement between the producer and Prince’s company, Paisley Park Enterprises. The judge also forced Boxill to immediately turn over all of the recordings to Prince’s family. According to the Associated Press, the recordings are valued at $75,000.

“During his unparalleled career, Prince worked with many sound engineers, including Mr. Boxill,” a statement from Prince’s estate said. “Like the other engineers that had the opportunity to work with Prince, Mr. Boxill signed an agreement, under which he agreed (1) all recordings that he worked on with Prince would remain Prince’s sole and exclusive property; (2) he would not use any recordings or property in any way whatsoever; and (3) he would return any such recordings or property to Prince immediately upon request. Mr. Boxill did not comply with his agreement. Instead, Mr. Boxill maintained copies of certain tracks, waited until after Prince’s tragic death, and is now attempting to release tracks without the authorization of the Estate and in violation of the agreement and applicable law.”

The restraining order is set to expire on May 3rd.