Why do you classify genius as scummy?
And if Genius is hosting the page that's annotated, that's one thing. If they're simply proxying it on demand and adding annotations, then I don't see how it violates copyright unless every proxy server violates copyright.
This is a key distinction that separates proxies from caches and archives.
They tried dirty SEO tactics that Google ultimately punished them for, and their staff have made off-color remarks in the past. There's a lot more if you search for it.
http://www.recode.net/2014/5/26/11627246/rap-genius-co-found...
Things at Genius have been pretty controversy-free since 2014.