Continuing with a pattern of aggressive copyright enforcement, the Music Publisher's Association and publishing company Warner Chapell have begun a campaign against lyric and sheet music/tablature sites.
According to MPA president Lauren Keiser, the internet runs rife with unlicensed guitar tabs, song scores and lyric sites, all of which are "completely illegal." Keiser claims he does not just want sites shut down, but is also urging authorities to "throw in some jail time" as an additional detterent.
David Israelite, president of the National Music Publishers' Association, added his concerns:
Unauthorised use of lyrics and tablature deprives the songwriter of the ability to make a living, and is no different than stealing, Music publishers and songwriters will consider all tools under the law to stop this illegal behaviour.
News of the campaign comes shortly after a popular utility, pearLyrics was forced offline by Warner Chapell. The application retrieved lyrics for songs from the Internet and did not actually contain any lyrics itself.
Within the punk and hardcore genres, there are numerous sites specializing in lyrics and guitar tablatures and any or all of them could become targets for the campaign.