Prince Gets a Bit of His Own Medicine

The ever litigious Prince was handed a setback in Italian court this week when it was ruled that his 1994 hit The Most Beautiful Girl in the World was plagiarized from an Italian composition. The court said that the song borrowed heavily from Takin' Me to Paradise by Bruno Bergzoni and Michele Vicino.

Bergzoni told Billboard "Our song was first released in 1983, at the height of the Italian dance boom and it appeared on assorted compilations that were distributed internationally. When we first heard Prince's song we immediately took action, but this case has been dragging on for 15 years and it isn't over yet, such is the slowness of the Italian legal system. We only decided to go public with our story now."

The case was originally ruled against the two writers in 2003 and finally reached the Italian appeals court in late 2007. The next step is to get a "third degree" ruling in the Italian courts which would confirm the ruling and assign damages. The process could take a number of years.

In the meantime, Prince must stop all distribution of the song in Italy and may have to pay all accumulated royalties for the song to the two Italian writers.