A Minnesota judge has blocked the release of Prince's posthumous EP, "Deliverance," over a legal dispute between the late singer's estate and the sound engineer who distributed his new music.
George Ian Boxill, who co-wrote and co-produced the new songs with Prince, announced the release of the EP on Wednesday ahead of the one-year anniversary of the singer's death.
After making the title-track single available for streaming, Paisley Park and the artist's estate promptly filed a lawsuit against Boxill for violating a confidentiality agreement and orchestrating the unauthorized sale of new music.
On Wednesday, Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright of the United States District Court issued a temporary restraining order in the estate's favor to stop the planned release of five more songs on the following Friday. Boxhill is now required to deliver the new material, as well as the entirety of recordings made with Prince, to the estate.
"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, according to Rolling Stone. "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."
As the title-track was released before the court's injunction, it's still available to purchase, but the pre-order option for the entire EP has been removed.
"My team and I are excited for the 'Deliverance' single to be available again to Prince's loyal fans," David Staley, co-founder of RMA, told Rolling Stone. "I, like Ian, feel 'Deliverance' is a very timely song and believe it will bring comfort to many in these trying times."