Press Release
| UPDATE: American Music Publishers Sue Swiss Internet Lyric Site. |
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As Appeared in the New York Times, February 18, 1999 Suit Alleges Tens of Thousands of Songs Infringed; Local Swiss District Attorney Seizes Website In Anticipation of Potential Criminal Prosecutions Edward P. Murphy, President and CEO of the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. (NMPA) and its licensing subsidiary, The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA) formally announced today that several American music publishers have brought suit against the internet's largest unauthorized lyric website, the International Lyric Server (ILS). ILS makes the lyrics to over 100,000 songs available to the worldwide public via the internet, without the permission of the songs' creators or copyright owners. The NMPA-sponsored suit was originally filed in November of 1998 in Basel, Switzerland, where the electronic server for the website is located. In December, a Swiss court issued a temporary injunction barring the website's use of the musical compositions named in the suit, pending a hearing scheduled for January 22, 1999. Upon the additional filing last week of a criminal complaint by the copyright owners, the local District Attorney in Basel, Karl Aschmann, ordered the seizure of the computers and the contents of the website's database as evidence. "Many of the people posting lyrics on the Internet, or assisting and encouraging others to do so, mistakenly believe that if the lyrics are merely copied down from a recording that they somehow become the intellectual property of the poster and no longer belong to the songwriter," said Murphy. "It is recognized in virtually every copyright law around the world, however, that only the copyright owners have the right to make and distribute copies of their works, including the lyrics." Murphy regrets that this issue has come to litigation, but, noting that at least one publisher spent over a year attempting to secure the voluntary cooperation of ILS to enter into licensing negotiations, asserts "it is the only recourse left to our publisher members and their songwriter partners." An ILS representative stated in writing that the website was "not willing to either cease the distribution of the songs nor to close the server," and refused to cooperate in licensing discussions unless guaranteed concessions from copyright owners in advance. "It was soon after that point that several of our music publisher members sought our assistance in enforcing their rights through the Swiss courts," Murphy reported. The music publisher plaintiffs in the suit are: EMI Songs, Estefan Enterprises, peermusic, Warner-Chappell Music, and Windswept Pacific Entertainment. Others, including Hit and Run Music and Sony Music, have recently joined as plaintiffs. Among the many musical compositions alleged in the complaint to have been infringed by ILS include "I Got You Babe" (written by Sonny Bono), "Embraceable You" (George and Ira Gershwin), "Walk Like An Egyptian" (Liam Sternberg), "Hold My Hand" (Hootie and the Blowfish), "Pink Houses" (John Cougar Mellencamp), and "Ay, Ay, I" (Gloria Estefan). "The fact that a website may not be charging customers directly to examine or download copyrighted musical works does not mean that its activities do not cause harm to writers and copyright owners," Murphy pointed out. "The U.S. Congress recognized this fact by passing criminal statutes designed to thwart those who appropriate the intellectual property of others and distribute it freely on the internet." "NMPA is optimistic that the Swiss judiciary will rule that under local Swiss copyright laws, diminishing or destroying the value of a musical work is as injurious as stealing it and selling it directly for profit," continued Murphy, noting that ILS includes advertising on its website, proving that it is indeed profiting monetarily from the theft of songs. "This is a crucially important and unprecedented internet case," Murphy concluded, "and NMPA intends to support it with all necessary energy and resources. Songwriters and copyright owners of every size and at every income level are severely injured by such widespread, unauthorized use of their works." The plaintiffs in the case are represented by attorney Dr. Felix H. Thomann, a partner in the Basel, Switzerland law firm ThomannFischer. Charles J. Sanders, Esq., Counsel to NMPA and Senior Vice-president of Legal Affairs with HFA, is coordinating communications between the American plaintiffs and Dr. Thomann. The National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., founded in 1917, works to protect and advance the interests of the music publishing industry. With over 600 members, the NMPA represents the most important and influential music publishing firms throughout the United States. The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., the licensing subsidiary of NMPA, provides an information source, clearing house and monitoring service for licensing musical copyrights, and represents more than 19,000 music publisher principals. Contacts: Margaret Drum NMPA 212-922-3266 Ken Sunshine Sunshine Consultants 212-754-6750 |
