I own a membership site and some members requested i put up a section for them to view lyrics of their favorite song artists. I've read on some sites that their was a legal issue going on where some were claiming lyrics sites violate the rights of the artists of the songs whose lyrics are displayed. Is this the case?
I think that was more to do with the tabs (music) than the words. I could be wrong through Note: This is not legal advice
Yes the lyrics are copyrighted and publishing them requires permission...even on the internet. There has been a few times when the RIA targets the larger lyrics sites and shuts them down.
What if you state the original artist and where you got the content from? it's not like you're trying to say you made them
No, but you are making money from them without paying royalities to the person that did write them. As has been said, you need express permission to use any material that you havent created and hasnt been expressly distributed as copyright rights waived irrespective of if you give credits or if there is money involved.
That doesn't matter. The only way to be away from legal trouble is to have the permission of the copyright holder...at least for commercial purposes. Fair-use is another matter but since most people don't build sites here for "fun" then let's just assume you want to make money.