Major labels have been going after illegal downloaders for several years now, so it makes sense that they’re growing a bit bored chasing down 15 year olds with premium Rapidshare accounts. To make things more interesting, Peermusic, Warner Music’s Warner/Chappell, and Bug Music have decided to go after something else entirely: the unlicensed use of lyrics.
The three companies have launched lawsuits against two unlicensed lyric websites, LiveUniverse and Motive Force LLC, which share song lyrics for profit. David Israelite, boss for the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), agreed with the lawsuit in an interview with Billboard: “These sites are profiting on the backs of songwriters. It is unfortunate that copyright holders must so frequently divert energies to protect their rights to license and distribute their works. However, the demand for music prompts a seemingly endless stream of illegal business models.”
