If you’re like me, and rush to the computer to pull the lyrics to “Psychopathy Red” by Slayer to rage along, chances are good that you’ve pulled up a few lyric sites from a Google search. In fact, why speculate? I know many are like me because Google alone gets 5 million searches for “lyrics” every single day, half of which end up at unlicensed lyric sites.
Today the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) announced lawsuits against two sites, SeekLyrics.com and LyricsTime.com for refusing to license or remove infringing content. Ballsy move, but the Man thew down today.
SeekLyrics.com and LyricsTime.com are only two of the websites that University of Georgia songwriter and researcher David Lowry compiled in a list of top unlicensed sites that profit from advertising revenue yet fail to compensate those who, you know, wrote the lyrics. Funny world we live in.
Last November, 50 lyric websites were contacted via notice by Lowry that they were in direct violation of NMPA’s Anti-Piracy Program as unlicensed entities. Since then, 11 sites have become properly licensed, including RapGenius, and 11 others have removed infringing content. NMPA says it is still in discussions with the other 26 websites.
“We invite all the sites who received notices to go the legal path,” and become good partners going forward, NMPA President and CEO David Israelite said. “We want a legal, vibrant marketplace.”
“Litigation is a last step,” Israelite said in a statement. “Our goal is to insure that lyric sites and songwriters become partners through licensing… This is not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites, or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. We are targeting sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which impacts a songwriter’s ability to make a living.”
Lowery’s research found revenue streams coming from the frequent website hits and prominent advertising exchanges. “We are targeting sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior,” Israelite clarified, “which impacts a songwriter’s ability to make a living.”
If lyric sites are liable, where does that put YouTube? Which, last checked, has lyric videos with MILLIONS of individual views. We may be looking at a future where the product of songwriters are more stringently protected.
“While NMPA has concluded music video licensing deals with Universal and Warner, with more deals expected in the near future, we remain concerned about the use of unlicensed lyrics in music videos,” Israelite said exclusively to RockRevolt™Magazine. “These videos generate a large amount of revenue, and songwriters deserve to be paid fairly for the use of their lyrics. We are hopeful that our discussions will lead to proper licensing. If they do not, we will consider similar actions in the future.”
There are currently House and Senate versions of the Songwriters’ Equity Act (SEA) which would change how writer’s profit shares and royalties are distributed. Today a songwriter earns 9.1 cents off of a “mechanical reproduction” of their words. In 1909, it was two cents.
To put this in perspective, a dozen eggs today cost almost $3. In 1909? 14-cents. To say that songwriter’s royalties have not kept up with inflation would be the understatement of one century and going into another. The only thing that hasn’t inflated are songwriter’s wallets. NMPA is hoping to change that with these pro-active, legal measures.
Perhaps if these two initiatives come together in a cohesive manner, the end result will equate to higher revenue shares overall and exponentially make a huge difference if the billions of hits on all of the lyrics websites translated into income. Stay tuned because this is FAR from over.
By Sam Flynn, Contributing Editor
About the NMPA:
Founded in 1917, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. The NMPA’s mandate is to protect and advance the interests of music publishers and songwriters in matters relating to the domestic and global protection of music copyrights.
