Forum Moderators: not2easy
Is posting song lyrics on a website illegal?
If so, why are there so many sites with them?
If not, why isn't there one site that doesn't have 20,000 ads and spyware on it with lyrics?
Depends. Is there analysis? Comparison? Or a simple cut and paste?
As for the ads, well, those sites that cut and paste and simply run ads will most likely be prosecuted first.
Check copyright laws and don't rely on the status quo to remain so.
would a site with cut and pasted lyrics with analysis not be illegal?
like:
on top of old smokey
all covered with cheese
analysis:
what a great song, really nice meaning, i like the metaphor of old and new...etc.
Legality can always be challenged in court. But by providing analysis, the content may be protected by fair use laws. So how about providing lyrics, and analysis, then opening up a discussion on those lyrics? Obtaining points of view from the users? Providing more than yet another copy of song lyrics...
BTW, I agree with the concept that publishing A song's lyrics with analysis or discussion might well be defensible. But we're talking about sites with database of hundreds, if not thousands, of songs. I can't believe there's any way to remediate those.
on top of old smokey
all covered with cheese
Whoever first penned "On top of spaghetti" could probably have claimed a right to parody.
For the first person who combined the first line of the original with the second line of the parody -- another parody? ;-)
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A little more seriously, wouldn't the same fair use principles apply to lyrics as to other creative content? How much of the original is published (relative to how long the original is)? How much commentary/analysis there is relative to what's published of the original? What the purpose of the publishing is?
--Realizing, of course, that there's no hard and fast definition for any of it.
