Music authors' associations and the music industry in general aggressively go after websites for using copyrighted music without permission, especially on YouTube videos. Lyrics demand respect too. According to the National Music Publishers’ Association of America there are five million Google searches each day for lyrics, and more than half of all lyric page views are on sites that reprint song lyrics without licenses, selling advertising based on the enormous traffic they attract. Lately the NMPA was filing take-down notices against what it called the 50 “worst offenders”. This was not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. The target were 50 sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which significantly impacts songwriters’ ability to make a living. Actions against websites publishing unlicensed lyrics have been largely successful so far, either by getting the sites to properly license songs or to shut down. The publishers’ association prevailed in court against two sites that failed to comply, and is expected to win in any future cases.
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