Yahoo music section has lyrics, too

Yahoo Inc. is expanding its online music section to include the lyrics of 400,000 songs, hoping to strike a chord with Web surfers looking for a more reliable alternative to Internet sites that publish the words without the permission of the copyright owners.

The Sunnyvale-based company is touting the free service to be unveiled Tuesday as the Web’s largest legally licensed database of lyrics.

“It fills a huge, gaping hole out there,” said Ian Rogers, general manager of Yahoo music.

Song lyrics have been available through scores of other Web sites for years, but most of those destinations are technically breaking the law by posting the words without the approval of the publishers and writers that own the rights.

What’s more, many of these unauthorized lyric sites rely on contributions from outsiders, a communal approach that increases the chances for inaccuracies.

Yahoo’s song lyrics, in contrast, are supposed to be the official versions. Under the licensing agreement, Yahoo will share with copyright holders the revenue from the ads that will be displayed alongside the lyrics.

•Activist groups dropped a federal lawsuit against Viacom Inc. on Monday after the parent of Comedy Central acknowledged it made a mistake by asking YouTube to yank a parody of the cable network’s “The Colbert Report.”

Although the video in question contained clips taken from the television show, the groups argued that their use was protected under “fair use” provisions of copyright law, and thus Viacom shouldn’t have asked YouTube to remove the item.

Viacom initially denied requesting the removal but later acknowledged it and said it was in error.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared victory in announcing that Viacom agreed to add information on its Web site about its stance on such parodies and to set up an e-mail address to receive complaints about possible errors in the future.

•Delta Air Lines Inc., a week away from exiting bankruptcy, reported Monday that it narrowed its loss in the first quarter on an 11.4 percent rise in sales.

The nation’s third-largest carrier said it lost $130 million in the three months ending March 31, compared to a loss of $2.07 billion for the same period a year ago. The year-ago loss included $2 million in dividends that accrued for preferred shareholders.

Excluding reorganization and special items, Delta said it lost $6 million in the latest quarter.

Delta’s balance sheet did not list per-share figures.