International Lyrics Server
Encyclopedia
The International Lyrics Server was a Swiss
web site devoted to hosting song lyrics
, entered and updated by its users worldwide. Begun in February 1997, it was hosting over 100,000 song
s and receiving a million page view
s every day by its close in 1999. It is remembered as a pioneer of the concept of crowdsourcing
... useful and informative web sites created by the efforts of many anonymous, volunteer contributors (a leading example of which is this Wikipedia
).
The service also presaged the music industry's approach of welcoming the Internet with a barrage of lawsuits. Although its creator Pascal de Vries
claimed no intent to commercialize the service, his move to accept advertising to help cover the costs of running the system allowed the argument that he was profiting from the industry's intellectual property. On January 14, 1999, Swiss police
raided de Vries' apartment and the service's ISP
and seized equipment in pursuit of a criminal copyright violation complaint filed on behalf of eight music publishing companies including Polygram
, EMI
, and Estefan Enterprises. Although the industry succeeded in taking down this service (and turning many music fans to dislike the industry), the Internet proved more powerful than the industry, and song lyrics are now freely available on many similar sites.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
web site devoted to hosting song lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, entered and updated by its users worldwide. Begun in February 1997, it was hosting over 100,000 song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s and receiving a million page view
Page view
A page view or page impression is a request to load a single HTML file of an Internet site. On the World Wide Web a 'page' request would result from a web surfer clicking on a link on another 'page' pointing to the 'page' in question. This should be contrasted with a hit, which refers to a...
s every day by its close in 1999. It is remembered as a pioneer of the concept of crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....
... useful and informative web sites created by the efforts of many anonymous, volunteer contributors (a leading example of which is this Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
).
The service also presaged the music industry's approach of welcoming the Internet with a barrage of lawsuits. Although its creator Pascal de Vries
Pascal de Vries
Pascal de Vries is best known as the founder of lyrics.ch, the International Lyrics Server that indexed lyrics and made it searchable for its users. In 1997 Pascal founded the site and it became a success in two years...
claimed no intent to commercialize the service, his move to accept advertising to help cover the costs of running the system allowed the argument that he was profiting from the industry's intellectual property. On January 14, 1999, Swiss police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
raided de Vries' apartment and the service's ISP
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
and seized equipment in pursuit of a criminal copyright violation complaint filed on behalf of eight music publishing companies including Polygram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and Estefan Enterprises. Although the industry succeeded in taking down this service (and turning many music fans to dislike the industry), the Internet proved more powerful than the industry, and song lyrics are now freely available on many similar sites.
External links
- lyrics.ch - the Swiss domain name which previously hosted the International Lyrics Server