Music publishers seek payment for online lyric views

Fifty music lyric sites are being targeted with take-down notices from the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) for what they believe is a failure to obtain licenses to legally publish content. According to NMPA President and CEO David Israelite, unlicensed sites receive significant revenue without compensating the original songwriters, an act he calls "blatant illegal behavior." NMPA says lyrics are searched for more than 5 million times a day on Google. Israelite has given the lyric sites three options--agree and comply with NMPA demands to obtain licenses, shut down, or be sued.