This may be going further than other performers and labels are going, and may well be "anal" behavior, but it looks to me like he's "just defending" his copyrights and trademarks. Song lyrics are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission. Song melodies are copyright and cannot be used without permission. Images and icons are copyrighted and often trademarked by their creators, and cannot be used without permission. I've heard stories from the 1980's of music industry attorneys going after computer bulletin boards that had MIDI files of popular songs for download. Such files are all over the Internet now (though they're completely passe' with the advent of mp3 and similar audio file formats), but they're still copyright infringement.
If you want to see truly outrageous abuse of Intellectual Property law, check out the C&D letters sent out and other actions taken by Monster Cable against a large number of companies with Monster in their names, regardless of the product or service they provide. Monster Cable is trying to claim exclusive rights to the word monster even in areas it doesn't do business, claiming that it "might do business in that area someday."
