Warner shuts down ‘pearLyrics’ song lyrics lookup companion application for Apple iTunes

“This is a sad time for all those of us with a passion for music and song lyrics. As of December 6th, 2005 pearLyrics is no longer available due to a cease and desist letter from Warner/Chappell Music Limited. As a freeware developer I can not afford to risk a law suit against such a big company, although personally I don’t see where pearLyrics should infringe any copyrights handled by them. After all pearLyrics only searches and accesses publicly available websites, displays, and, at the users wish, caches its content. Something that can easily be done with any combination of search engine and webbrowser too. Well, but I’m just a developer and not a lawyer,” Walter Ritter writes for pearworks.

“I feel very sorry for all users of pearLyrics who provided me with such great feedback – I would have loved to provide them with even further enhanced versions… A quick check at Apple’s widget download site also reveals that most of the lyrics widgets are gone now too,” Ritter writes.

Full article here.

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Related articles:
pearLyrics 0.5 freeware released: looks up lyrics for Apple iTunes songs – September 12, 2005

63 Comments

  1. The widget/app should still work though shouldn’t it? They may have stopped his development and distribution, but it doesn’t sound like they’ve stopped existing versions from working. All we need is a mirror…

  2. So, to summarise: type the lyrics in manually – won’t stop you.

    Have them transferred from a website using an application – bad.

    They haven’t shut down the sites which actually have the lyrics, merely C&Dd; the application.

    Seriously, the music industry actually manages to disprove both the theories of evolution and Intelligent Design, although they do manage to provide empirical evidence of why close relations shouldn’t marry or have sexual relationships.

  3. WTF. If you are downloading the lyrics, that means that you already purchased the song – unless you are a criminal, and pirated the song from somewhere – that’s it – Warner has decided to punish all of the criminals, and all of the legitimate customers, too.

  4. I am so completely sick of this kinda crap.

    CEOs make tens of millions of dollars a year–record-breaking profits–then layoff thousands because they say business is lagging. Greedy bastards.

    Who is Pear hurting? Is this app snatching food from the mouths of Warner employees?

    Ridiculous.

  5. It’s really a shame that Warner and the music industry are putting so many road blocks to satisfy their greed. Instead Warner should encourage the youth and others music lovers to learn, share and appreciate music, one of the few and most beautiful pleasure of life.

    Anyway, I’ll save my copy of pearLyrics.

  6. MCCR: Seriously, the music industry actually manages to disprove both the theories of evolution and Intelligent Design, although they do manage to provide empirical evidence of why close relations shouldn’t marry or have sexual relationships.

    Seriously, this is really funny.

    Anyway, I use KaraTunes in four or five languages. Most web lyrics aren’t perfect; even liner lyrics don’t account for the actual version sung in the cd.

  7. So I guess this is our current boycott list

    1: Sony products – Playstation 3 exempted because we hate M$ more.

    2: Microsoft everything – turning a slight blind eye to those Mac users who are not technically up to speed to use anything else but OfficeMac.

    3: Time/Warner music because of their latest BS.

  8. If walter was doing such a good job that Warner noticed, why didn’t they buy his whole outfit for $US50,000 and pay him the same each year to maintain it with Warner advertising all over it.

    The ‘good feel’ marketing appeal to users – priceless.

    MW: ‘needs’ as in even Walter needs to eat too.

  9. this is a sad, sad day. the temptation of greed has really seeped into the minds and hearts of warner.

    i wonder if anyone has version 0.6 somewhere that they can post… there were updates and sadly i find out only when they are forced to remove it!

  10. It’s because Warner has made very stupid business decisions the last several years, and has floundered with some of its most visible properties (i.e. Looney Tunes, DC Comics, etc.). Instead of looking at PearLyrics as a marketing opportunity, they shut it down outright and weather yet another barrage of negative publicity. It makes zero business sense, but who says you have to have business sense to be an executive?

  11. “Who is Pear hurting? Is this app snatching food from the mouths of Warner employees?”

    It’s not food from their mouths it’s coke from their noses and hookers from their, well, whatever.

  12. Holy Mackerel… that made me think.
    I would not put it past WB to come out with a system similar to pL. Give it a few months perhaps, and watch them tout a “new” service that you pay for (money, soul, ads.)

    However, that would make Walter a happier (read: richer) man after a lawsuit… but that’s just a silly idea ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

  13. And in OTHER .. news …..

    Our old friend… “Creative” is about to release yet another iPod knock-off….

    (yawn) …

    Read the translated page..Here

    Heres a thought ….

    Just how “creative” can their product designers be .. when they feel they have to blatently rip off the iPods looks ??

    (Oh… I bet this story will appear later here at MDN !!)

  14. IF ANYONE HAS an email address to be able to contact these twits please publish it here. They are too scared to put one on their website.

    In the meantime here are the UK and US phone numbers:
    UK
    WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC GROUP LTD.
    Griffin House
    161 Hammersmith Road
    London W6 8BS, England
    phone: 44-208-563-5800

    US
    Tel:212-275-2377
    Fax:212-275-2375

    WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC.
75 Rockefeller Plaza, 30th Floor
New York, NY 10019

    Remember if you contact them be nice but be stern. Tell them you will not buy their artists music.

  15. This is so sad, I really love this app and was eagerly awaiting new versions. I have 0.5 and it still works but I would have loved to seen what this guy came up with in newer versions.

    Damn greedy Warner bastards.

  16.  
    How about another boycott here?

    List the markers of Time Warner products. Pass the word.

    No lyrics supplied, no purchases. Plain and simple.

    Frankly, it’s time we dealt with the artists, not the Sony’s and Time Warners.

    Think about it; Sony & Time Warner. Close akin, are they??

  17. What’s next? Cease and Desist letters for the makers of Web Browsers, Hosting Sites, ICANN and the users of the Internet? The Record Industry has consistently shown that it is the real criminal. Has anyone noticed that the media hasn’t focused on the latest Payola Scandal very much?

  18. Wow. Warner is really showing themselves to be bigger morons than I ever guessed.

    A trip to their website, http://www.warnerchappell.com/, and a quick search showed that they have the full lyrics of some songs openly available on their own website. So is it okay to copy the lyrics from their site? I wonder if this is the precursor to them suing lyrics sites out there on the web… Or maybe they’ll push Apple to bump the price of iTunes songs that include “premiums” like lyrics (something we all got free before).

    Jackassery at it’s most potent whatever the case.

    :-\

  19. Oops, sorry, you get a redirect to the authors website if you try to download from MacUpdate.

    The version 0.5 will be in my Public folder until I get a nasty letter from someone.

  20. I am utterly disgusted and that as an artist, myself. Art is about communication but for these greedy bastards it is only about stuffing as much in their pockets as they can grab. How they feel they are losing on people finding lyrics. is beyond me, however. Maybe they think we would buy CDs (which doesn’t always contain lyrics) if we want the lyrics?
    I only found a webmaster mail-address on their site and I sent a ‘to whom it may concern’-message to that one, although it isn’t the right addressee…
    It was sent from the site, so I have no address, though.

  21. Guys, before the quite justifiable witch-hunt begins, can we just clear up the fact that Warner-Chappell is actually part of Warner Music Group (WMG).

    WMG ceased to be a part of Time-Warner on the 24th November 2003, as per the following release:

    [I]nvestor Group Led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners to Purchase Warner Music Group and Create one of the World’s Largest Independent Music Companies

    11/24/2003

    Investor Group to Purchase Recorded Music and Music Publishing Businesses in Their Entirety for Approximately $2.6 Billion in Cash

    Time Warner Retains Option to Buy Back Minority Stake in Businesses
    NEW YORK – Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) and an investor group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, Edgar Bronfman, Jr.’s Lexa Partners, Bain Capital and Providence Equity Partners today announced the sale of Time Warner’s Warner Music Group, including its recorded music operations and Warner/Chappell music publishing business, to the investor group for approximately $2.6 billion in cash and other consideration, including the option of buying back into the business on favorable terms in the future.

    This purchase would create one of the world’s largest independent music companies – home to an extraordinary roster of recording artists and songwriters; some of the best-known record labels in the industry, including Warner Bros., Atlantic and Elektra Records; and Warner/Chappell Music, one of the industry’s largest music publishing companies with more than one million copyrights.

    The company will retain the name Warner Music Group.[/I]

    Yep, it’s that man Bronfman again.

  22. I just DL and starting using it.

    Google stopped me!!!

    I can’t use Google anymore. When I go to Google I’m told my computer has a virus. The virus is pearllyrics trying to look up lyrics for my 2000 songs. I’m not sure how to use google again. Anyone know how to fix this?

  23. I just DL and starting using it.

    Google stopped me!!!

    I can’t use Google anymore. When I go to Google I’m told my computer has a virus. The virus is pearllyrics trying to look up lyrics for my 2000 songs. I’m not sure how to use google again. Anyone know how to fix this?

  24. I just DL and starting using it.

    Google stopped me!!!

    I can’t use Google anymore. When I go to Google I’m told my computer has a virus. The virus is pearllyrics trying to look up lyrics for my 2000 songs. I’m not sure how to use google again. Anyone know how to fix this?

  25. I just DL and starting using it.

    Google stopped me!!!

    I can’t use Google anymore. When I go to Google I’m told my computer has a virus. The virus is pearllyrics trying to look up lyrics for my 2000 songs. I’m not sure how to use google again. Anyone know how to fix this?

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