2005-12-15: Today I had a phone call with Mr. Richard Blackstone, Chairman and CEO of Warner/Chappell Music and here is what we have to say:
Joint Statement of Walter Ritter, pearworks and Richard Blackstone, Warner/Chappell Music:
"Based upon our common goal of helping consumers enjoy the song lyrics they want - and our common belief that technology can help to transform the music industry to the benefit of consumers and artists alike - we are committed to working together to provide consumers a convenient, legal way to find accurate song lyrics.
The goal of Warner/Chappell's prior letter to pearworks was to gain assurance that pearLyrics operated according to those principles. However, in both tone and substance, that letter was an inappropriate manner in which to convey that inquiry. Warner/Chappell apologizes to Walter Ritter and pearworks.
Our solution will adhere to our shared belief that songwriters must be fairly compensated for their work and that legitimate web sites with accurate lyrics must not be undermined by unlicensed web sites.
We look forward to working together, and to helping to advance the evolution of the music industry cooperatively for the benefit of consumers and artists alike."
So stay tuned for more info. But for now, just let me briefly explain. Personally I think that's good news for lyrics fans. One of the biggest complaints I got when pearLyrics was still alive, was that a lot of lyrics were not perfectly accurate or even completely wrong at all. Some of it was due to the fact, that many lyrics sites that feature (maybe unlicensed) lyrics rely on users submitting song lyrics. Sure, those users do the best they can to get them right, but many times lyrics just end up like they think they hear them, instead of the way they were actually ment to be by their composers. A service that would work with licensed lyrics would help to solve this problem - and additionally, it would also provide correct composer information, also an often requested feature. At the same time the actual songwriters, the ones who give us so much joy, will benefit. So at first sight, this seems like a win-win situation for all. Let's see what the future will bring.
I would like to thank Fred von Lohmann from EFF for all of his efforts as I think his open letter to Warner/Chappell was very important to clarify the legal situation.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004246.php
Also a big thank you to all of you who have sent me those encouraging mails to keep going on, thank you very much.
To take a look at the history of the pearLyrics demise see the link below
pearLyrics - a sad time for lyrics fans.
