I agree! Who wants this type of one-use spell taking up a valuable memorised spell slot. It should be a ritual. It's definitely great flavour for a dm and gives players access to a lot of backstory. I could see it being a little bit tricky for mystery/detective adventures but it's DM's the discretion what information is gleaned. 

Sending is a 3rd level spell (basically a short one time phone call) and this is basically Google, so 5th level is appropriate. Smartphones in dnd are basically incredibly powerful magic items.

Legend Lore is older than 5e. 

Legend Lore has its origins in Greyhawk. It was published in 1976 in the first expansion to the original Dungeons and Dragons game, Supplement 1 - Greyhawk.

The original text for the spell is minimalistic...

Legend Lore: By means of this spell the magic-user seeks to gain knowledge of some legendary item, place or person. (It is necessary for the referee to decide if the sought-after thing is in fact legendary in the scope of his campaign.) Such a spell requires great conjuration, so the time necessary can range from days to weeks (roll percentile dice, 01 = 1 day — 00 = 100 days). Often times the information gained through the spell will come in the form of a riddle or a poem.

The version in the 1e PHB goes deeper (p. 85):

When completed, the divination will reveal if legendary material is available. It will often reveal where this material is - by place name, rhyme, or riddle.

There was also a matching bard ability called Legend Lore, which provided a percentage chance that a bard would "know something about a legendary person, place or thing" (p.118), that supports the idea that the spell delivers knowledge about existing, knowable legends, it does not create it:

Due to training, a bard has knowledge of many legendary and magical items (...). If some legendary knowledge is appropriate and the dice score indicates that the bard has knowledge in the area, then his or her ability will deliver information similar to the magic-user spell, legend lore (q.v)

So the spell in general tapped into existing myth and legend, and worked as a worldwide magical library or oral tradition search.

Alot of people don't realize how powerful this spell is. My players have been casting it nonstop on certain figures including the big bad to learn everything there is to know about them in great detail. 

I love a spell that says "Gimme some exposition and dumb it the **** down, I'm tired of rolling investigation checks."

Quote from K0sW0lf >>

Why is this spell 5th level when a midling Bard or anyone with kowledge skills could just make a check? It's like wasting a fairly high spell slot to talk to your DM.

 but the good thing is, it can be known by clerics as well, so its not really a waste of a spell slot since it just takes them 8 hours to change their spells around.  They dont have to keep this spell prepared until needed, then take a long rest, cast the spell, and then change their spell to another more "useful" spell.  Wizards are the same way.  Only prepare their spell when needed then change to something else.  Only downside with a wizard is it does have to have a few level 5 spells known so it can swap them around.