Lyrics Sites Illegal? - Long History of Cracking Down

A list of lyrics/tab sites that have been shut down in the past

Long History of Cracking Down

This isn't the first time the music industry has taken action against web sites. Here are some notable events reaching as far back as 1996.

1996
- OLGA shut down
  Online Guitar Archive (OLGA), a resource for guitar tablature, was threatened by EMI Publishing (USA), and the OLGA site at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada was shut down.
  source: OLGA History (newsgroup archives)
- Vivarian Lyrics Server shut down
  In October, 1996, they received a cease-and-desist from the Harry Fox Agency, representing writers for ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.
  source: stereopsis.com
1997
1998
- OLGA shut down - again
  The Harry Fox Agency forced the shutdown of OLGA by threatening legal action.
  source: Music site closed over copyright June 12, 1998 By Beth Lipton Krigel Staff Writer, CNET News.com
1999
- ILS shut down
  International Lyrics Server (ILS), a nonprofit repository of song lyrics, was sued by the Harry Fox Agency, and as a result the ISP that was hosting the site was raided by Swiss police.
  source: Lyrics site negotiates copyright issues February 8, 1999 By Dan Goodin Staff Writer, CNET News.com
2000
- LyricFind.com shut down
  LyricFind CEO Darryl Ballantyne proactively took down the copyrighted song lyrics, and began negotiations with rights holders.
  source: Music lyrics site pulls content offline December 4, 2000 By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com
2001
2002
2003
- Radiohead sites receive cease-and-desist
  Publishers Warner Chappell reportedly sent cease-and-desist letters to fan sites Green Plastic and At Ease for their lyric and guitar tab content.
  source: Radiohead Fan Sites Get Cease-and-Desisted, But Politely Yale Law School, LawMeme, Posted by James Grimmelmann on Wednesday, June 04
2004
2005
- pearLyrics widget author receives cease and desist
  Walter Ritter wrote a Mac application that searches for lyrics on the internet, received a cease-and-desist letter from Warner Chappell Music, and decided to take down his program.
  source: pearLyrics: too easy to be legal? December 6, 2005 - Walter Ritter
  
  source: Pared lyrics December 12, 2005 By Dan Miller
2006
- OLGA shut down (yet again)
  The Online Guitar Archive received a cease and desist letter from the MPA and NMPA, and shut down on July 27, 2006.

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