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Has the site been put down? Why didn't you keep it as a fun little side project? I don't understand why the goal has to always be a $17 million exit. I've built things like facetache.com and openingthemes.tv cause I thought they were fun, not for some massive financial windfall.

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It was impossible to afford licenses for the lyrics our site contained. You can go two ways...fly illegally (which most of these sites do) and risk getting sued, or pay an outrageous copyright fee yearly to license tracks for display.

For a "fun side project" I wasn't willing to accept that risk.

http://subimage.com/blog/2012/12/15/lyricful-looking-for-inv...

Aah, ok. Seems stupid to sue as the site promotes the songs (via iTunes, etc...) but the music industry aren't exactly known for rational decision making.

If you are successfully charging some people for a license, you really have to sue the people who don't get a license. Otherwise your licensees will stop paying.

The author mentioned toward the end: Liability. Sooner or later a song owner was going to sue for copyright infringement.

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