NMPA sends out take-down notices to 50 music lyric sites

The National Music Publishers' Associated is looking to get 50 websites to remove music lyrics that are being illegally hosted or to pay licensing fees.

The industry group announced on Monday that 50 sites were illegally hosting song lyrics and that they need to be taken down immediately, TheWrap reports.

The NMPA claims that five million people go to Google everyday searching for song lyrics and end up helping sites, that are hosting lyrics without permission, turn a profit off of others' works. NMPA president and CEO David Israelite said in a statement, "These lyrics sites have ignored the law and profited off the songwriters' creative works, and NMPA will not allow this to continue."

According to Billboard, the NMPA isn't looking to target small personal sites, but rather ones that "engage in blatant illegal behavior."

One such targeted site is LyricsMania.com, which claims 12 million unique visitors every month and makes money through advertisements. Another website that likely will be targeted is Rap Genius, which recently got a $15 million investment from venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, but the site does not engage in advertising.

Co-founder IIan Zechory says his company hasn't been contacted yet, "but we can't wait to have a conversation with them about how all writers can participate in and benefit from Rap Genius knowledge project."

Israelite said that if the sites do not comply with the take-down notices, then NMPA will move to file infringement lawsuits. the industry group won $6.6 million against LiveUniverse, which had several unlicensed lyrics sites.

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