A music publisher has issued an unusual mea culpa in the digital copyright wars, apologizing over legal threats that led a software programmer to pull an application he'd written that automatically scours the web for song lyrics.
Facing an upswell of protest, Warner Chappell Music on Friday formally apologized to Walter Ritter over a letter it sent to the software programmer earlier this month targeting a helper application for Apple's iTunes called pearLyrics.
"The goal of Warner/Chappell's prior letter to pearworks was to gain assurance that pearLyrics operated according to (copyright) 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."
Ritter says he hopes that talks with Warner will result in its return to the web.
The apology is a rare reversal for a copyright holder in the war against illicit trading of music and other files. Legal assaults against file-swapping services and individuals accused of stealing music en masse have led some companies to close their doors, and alleged copyright infringers to pay out thousands of dollars in settlements.
The standoff began after Ritter created pearLyrics in his spare time while working as a usability researcher at the Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences in Austria.
Thousands downloaded the program, and Apple Computer linked to it from Apple.com. But in early December, Ritter received a letter from Warner Chappell comparing the tool to Grokster and file-sharing networks that distribute copyright material without permission. The music publisher threatened legal action if the distribution of pearLyrics did not cease.
"I was surprised," Ritter told Wired News. "I couldn't believe it and I thought they must be misinterpreting what pearLyrics does -- that we must be hosting or distributing lyrics and making money from it. But I didn't want to risk a trial, so I took it down."
Apple was copied on the same threatening letter, and promptly removed its link to Ritter's software. But others rallied to Ritter's defense.
On Dec. 13, attorney Fred Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation published an open letter criticizing the company for its threat.
"A lot of people buy music from iTunes and make copies of CDs for personal use," Von Lohmann told Wired News, "Annotating music they acquire isn't wrong. If music fans aren't doing anything wrong, then how can it be unlawful to develop an application that helps them?"
Ritter says Warner Chappell is now talking with him about ways to create lyrics search tools with the blessing of music publishers, but the experience will cause him to think twice before committing his next big idea to code.
One of Ritter's recent brainstorms -- an application that queries lyrics data online to help music fans choose tracks based on themes, like "love" or "breakup" -- may now remain only an idea, he says.
"I'm concerned with how I should go on with software development, because this will be a potential issue -- every time I come up with something that people like, someone might say 'you can't do that, it's illegal and it infringes copyright," Ritter told Wired News. "It's getting really difficult to be innovative as a small developer."
While Ritter now appears to be free of legal woes, ad-laden websites that offer unlicensed lyrics and guitar tabs will soon be under attack.
Beginning in January, the Music Publishers Association, of which Warner Chappell is a member, will begin pursuing a campaign against 5 to 6 such companies, according to MPA CEO Lauren Keiser.
"Lost revenue for rights holders is in the millions," said Keiser, "We're not going after fan clubs, but websites that make money."
