Prince is in discussions with fan-run websites after threatening legalaction unless photographs of him were removed.In a statement, the singer denied he was trying to penalise fans andsaid he was “simply looking to provide Prince fans with exclusivemusic and images”.Fan groups said they were hopeful for a resolution but would continueto fight if talks were unsuccessful.In September, Prince took action against video sharing website YouTubeto remove clips of his London concerts.The statement added that the request to remove the star’s pictures wasnot to shut down fan sites or control comment in any way, but tobypass “unofficial and unauthorised fan sites that exploit bothconsumers and artists”.It said: “The issue was simply to do with copyright and trademark ofimages and no lawsuits have been filed.”‘Baffled’But a spokesman for fan group Prince Fans United said they were”baffled” by the statement released by the singer’s promoter.”We were told this statement would not be sent out as we thought wewere going to settle this dispute - Prince would stop the legalthreats, the fan site would continue and more co-operation would beginbetween Prince and his fans.”"This statement potentially destroys everything we agreed in the last24 hours,” he added.As a goodwill gesture, Prince sent a new track to fan-sites,apparently recorded the night before.”It’s an old track, but he re-did the lyrics to be more appropriatefor the situation,” the Prince Fans United spokesman said.He added that as the non-profit making websites in question were runby fans, any suggestion they were trying to exploit consumers andartists was ridiculous.Prince Fans United was formed by housequake.com, Princefams.com andPrince.org, to fight back against Prince’s legal notices.