Washington
– The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) announced on Tuesday that it
has successfully settled its copyright infringement suit against Motive Force
and Sean Colombo, operators of the unlicensed LyricWiki database of song
lyrics.
Under the terms, Motive Force and Mr. Colombo are permanently enjoined
from further using unlicensed song lyrics on websites or applications, and will
"turn over funds associated with the exploitation of the unauthorized
content."
NMPA member companies Peermusic, Warner/Chappell and Bug Music
sued Motive Force and Mr. Colombo in August 2009.
They note that "the previously
unlicensed music content on the Motive Force website is now in the possession
of a licensed lyric website provider."
At the same time it sued Motive
Force, the NMPA also filed an unlicensed lyrics copyright suit against
LiveUniverse and owner Brad Greenspan, the co-founder of MySpace.
The NMPA said
that it continues to seek equitable relief and damages in those cases.
Related Links:
http://www.nmpa.org/media/showwhatsnew.asp?id=24
http://snipurl.com/tz3et
(DMW previous coverage)
Sean Colombo has done a job that the music publishers didn’t: generating funky apps around lyrics. As a lyricist, I am also concerned about the exploitation of lyrics by third parties (practically none credit the lyricists but pick up ad revenue on their backs), but we should embrace people like Colombo into the IP industries and find ways to work together.
The unlicensed lyrics are found everywhere , there is no doubt