US Supreme Court Rejects Genius Appeal, Google Is Free To Use Lirik Transcripts Without License

Lyrics of the song "Panda" by rapper Desire. (photo: twitter @chartdata)

JAKARTA - The United States Supreme Court on Monday 26 June rejected a lawsuit from website Genius seeking to revive its lawsuit against Alphabet Inc, the owner of Google, accused of using the lyrics of their songs in the search for unlicensed machines.

The judges rejected an appeal filed by Genius over lower court decisions rejecting claims of their breach of contract against Google. Genius argued that a win for Google could allow big tech companies to steal content without any consequences from websites such as Reddit, eBay, and Wikipedia gathering user-generated information.

Genius, formerly known as Rap Genius, keeps a wide database containing song lyrics. They sued Google in a New York state court in 2019, accusing the company of copying and posting transcripts of their lyrics at the top of the search without permission, as well as diverting web traffic that was supposed to go to the Genius site.

Genius has no copyright to these lyrics, which artists or publishers usually have. However, Genius accused Google of violating its service requirements by stealing and posting their works.

Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said they respected the Supreme Court's decision.

"We are licensing the lyrics to Google Search from third parties, and we are not exploring or taking data from the website to get the lyrics," Castaneda added.

Representatives from Genius have not yet responded to requests for comment from the media on this matter.

Genius's lawsuit states that one of Google's posts that allegedly copied the lyrics was the lyrics of the song "Panda" by rapper Desirer.

"I got broads in Atlanta," the lyrics of the song read. "Twistin' dope, lean, and the Fanta. Credit cards and the scammers. Hittin' off quicks in the bando."

Genius also cited songs from rapper Rudy Lamar and pop singer Selena Gomez and Alessia Cara that Google allegedly copied through the use of watermarks.

They said in their petition to the Supreme Court that they included a typical pattern of corrugated and straight apostrophes in transcription for several new songs that symbolize "RED HANDED" in Morse codes.

"It's true, Genius caught Google soaking wet: The 'RED HANDED' message immediately began to appear in the lyrics in Google's information box," Genius told the judges.

In 2022, the New York-based Second United States Court of Appeals maintains the ruling that Genius' contract infringement claims are based on copyright issues and can only be fought for in copyright lawsuits.

Genius said in his appeal to the Supreme Court that the decision of the Second Court of Appeal would grant "freedom" to "gravity like Google" to "suck" content and increase their internet dominance.

While Google told the Supreme Court it had a license for the lyrics and argued that Genius wanted to "ignor true copyright holders and create new rights through alleged existing contracts."

In May, US President Joe Biden's administration recommended judges reject the appeal.