Free the Lyrics

I was reading an article, Publisher Apologizes To Online Lyrics Tool, which has to do with pearLyrics and Warner/Chappell. It’s from December 15, 2005, and the story itself is nothing new to me, but I found a Lauren Keiser quote that I had not seen before. The article gives some insight into what Mr. Keiser thinks about the lyrics/tab sites the MPA plans on targeting.

And he says he is not inclined to approach these sites first as potential partners. “If someone was robbing your bank,” he asks, “would you go to them and say, ‘Hey, let’s split the cut?’”

That is a terrible analogy. Like the RIAA before them, the MPA obviously has no respect for the internet. In the non-web world, the music industry is perfectly willing to make partners out of people who are “robbing” them.

Take, for example, a Washington, D.C. bar that was not paying royalties to the industry. Royalties for what, you may ask. Publishers offer a blanket fee for their copyrighted music that covers public performances and audio played in the establishment. ASCAP and BMI are two of the biggest organizations that handle this type of licensing.

So, the bar. In the article, A Spy Mission With a Two-Drink Minimum, it’s revealed that things did not turn out well for the bar, Madam’s Organ. After several years of avoiding royalty payments, it culminated in lawsuits and even getting banned from playing ASCAP-member songs. That doesn’t sound very amiable at all, so why do I say this is a good example of the music industry willing to make partners?

The reason? Because the first action by the ASCAP was to try to remedy the situation.

According to the complaint, Madam’s Organ has known since 1998 that it was violating the law. That year, ASCAP representatives began writing, calling and visiting the bar in an attempt to get the owners to pay an annual licensing fee…
In a July 2001 letter addressed to Duggan, an ASCAP official wrote that if Madam’s Organ did not send payment for a license within 15 days, then the matter would be turned over to the association’s lawyers.

I can only imagine that if the bar sent payment in response to that letter, then all would be fine, and the ASCAP would essentially be saying “Hey, let’s split the cut.”

But what happens in the web world? According to the MPA’s threats, the first action will be to send cease-and-desist letters. No opportunity for payment. It goes straight to the punishment phase that a real-world entity endures only after reasonable measures are taken.