thats the same argument that the users of napster used...if i hear a song i'll go buy the cd.. it doesn't change the fact that it's someone elses work, and they can tell you not to do it if they want.. additionally, if they wanted the lyrics out there, why shouldn't they tell you to shut down, and display the lyrics themselves? cuts out the middleman taking in a few bucks and puts more money in their own pockets.
Most of the more well known sites that previously offered free lyrics, sheet music and guitar tab now have statements on their home pages, stating they have to resolve legal issues before they can continue to post lyrics, sheet music and/or guitar tab for free. I am a songwriter myself, and I would feel like I was being ripped off if I saw my songs posted somewhere without my permission. Whenever opening and starting up a business, it is always best to have all legal issues resolved, before the business starts.
I personally don't have a problem with anything legal. I've obtained permission from the largest publisher of my industry to display lyrics. I think I might be the first site in my industry to be legally licensed. I'm pretty happy because this means I can display all the lyrics I want and never run into legal problems.
I doubt it very much it is legal to display all the lyrics to songs on a website. I can see displaying a preview of the lyrics to a song, but not the whole song. Displaying lyrics is the same as displaying sheet music or guitar tab. You are not allowed due to copyright laws to display sheet music or guitar tab on websites, and I am sure this would also apply to the lyrics. I have sites which legally display previews of sheet music and guitar tab, but if the viewer wants the whole song, then they have to buy it. My sites also offer just the lyrics, and there is no way I am allowed to display all the lyrics to songs. If you start displaying all the lyrics copyrighted songs, you might get yourself in trouble, and start having legal problems.
You're allowed to purchase copyrights for songs to display them on a website from specific labels. I went ahead and did what I needed to do and got the permissions to display lyrics. It's perfectly legal and binding.