Big publishers are now putting heavy pressure on a pair of lyrics destinations.  Peermusic, Warner/Chappell and Bug Music, coordinated through the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), are suing LiveUniverse and Motive Force, LLC.  Both use lyrics heavily within their services, a major concern for the plaintiff publishers.  “These sites are profiting on the backs of songwriters,” said NMPA president and chief executive David Israelite.  “It is unfortunate that copyright holders must so frequently divert energies to protect their rights to license and distribute their works.”

The lawsuits were filed in US District Courts for the Central District of California (for LiveUniverse) and the Western District of Pennsylvania (for Motive Force).  According to the NMPA, both companies have refused to alter their destinations and license their content, a stance that puts licensed properties like LyricFind and Gracenote at a disadvantage.

Incidentally, LiveUniverse is owned by Brad Greenspan, an original cofounder of MySpace.  Meanwhile, Motive Force chief Sean Colombo recently posted that lyric-related APIs from Motive-owned LyricWiki would be terminated, based on demands from various publishers.  That suggests some form of discussion, though clearly some irreconcilable differences exist. 

Story by Alexandra Osorio.