I have tried to find out the legal side of owning a lyrics website but everything is slightly contradicting each other! Your views would be great
Lyrics are copyright the songwriter. If you share the lyrics without permission, then that's copyright infringement. People who own lyrics sites have been sued for copyright infringement: http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2010/01/05/music-publishers-settle-suit-against-unlicensed-lyrics-site http://pulse2.com/2009/08/25/liveuniverse-getting-sued-over-lyrics-for-copyright-infringement/ http://musically.com/blog/2010/02/23/baidu-found-guilty-of-infringement-in-chinese-lyrics-case/ http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/299584.html
It's not a grey area - you need permission, period. Even if it was a grey area, do you want to spend a few hundred thousand dollars in legal fees arguing "fair use"? Even if you won, you would still be out the legal fees. Find another attorney that knows what they are talking about.
Why risk being sued by something whose legality is in a "grey area?" You should think of another less risky website to make, instead.