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With the fight against illegal downloading of songs starting to pay off, the music business has set its sights on a new enemy on the internet - websites which transcribe pop songs into musical notation.

The guitar may be enjoying a comeback among schoolboys and dad rockers alike, but beginners hoping to strum along with their favourite bands are finding dissonance online.

Having seen off some of the biggest networks that enabled free downloading of songs over the net, the music business is now calling the tune for websites aimed at guitarists.

Music publishers in the US say the guitar "tab" sites illegally infringe songwriters' copyright, and have issued "take down" orders to some of the biggest.

Iss gettin' daft.

Well this is retarded cause it's impossible to find Rage Against the Machine around here and I play Bass guitar

Seen from a legal point of view, I don't think this attemp to stop this kind of activity will be successful: transcription of music is a rather different matter than just making illegal copies of cd's out of mp3's.

If I understand well, it refers to the reduction of existing music scores to guitar tabs. Now, for what I'm concerned, the photostatic copy (and consequent trading) of the original scores would be illegal, but historically speaking a transcription or reduction for one instrument - no matter if on full score or just guitar tabs - is rather a process involving a lot of creativity and mastery.

I won't go quoting here excerpts from the huge list of famous transcriptions that have been made since music was born, but as far as I know, never - never, legal troubles ensued from this.

If things are the way I suppose, and case they really managed to stop the free circulation of these guitar tabs, well, it comes to my mind the fact that art has always been something that needed to be put under control because of some inner danger spreading from it - see what happened during nazism, fascism and stalinism and all sorts of totalitarianism - then, draw your conclusions yourselves.

Then, the big question would be what is true art in the age of reproduction... but this is a completely different matter.

Hope I didn't slide too much into politics - forgive me.

Marco

- Uhu_Rodion

If things are the way I suppose, and case they really managed to stop the free circulation of these guitar tabs, well, it comes to my mind the fact that art has always been something that needed to be put under control because of some inner danger spreading from it - see what happened during nazism, fascism and stalinism and all sorts of totalitarianism - then, draw your conclusions yourselves.

What do you call it when the lawyers have all the power and no one can do anything original or useful, for fear of being sued for everything they own?

C

The Free World

- C_Sherman

- Uhu_Rodion

If things are the way I suppose, and case they really managed to stop the free circulation of these guitar tabs, well, it comes to my mind the fact that art has always been something that needed to be put under control because of some inner danger spreading from it - see what happened during nazism, fascism and stalinism and all sorts of totalitarianism - then, draw your conclusions yourselves.

What do you call it when the lawyers have all the power and no one can do anything original or useful, for fear of being sued for everything they own?

C

Answer already included into the words by me you quote - the very word is there - but again now I say and now I deny it: the longa manus of power might prosecute me

Marco

- RAF92_BattleHawk

Well this is retarded cause it's impossible to find Rage Against the Machine around here and I play Bass guitar

Tried anything in HERE yet?

Nope...thanks see the note on the front page...

Rage against machine TABs An Bass TABs

www.911tabs.com/tabs/r...e_machine/


Sly

Being an amature Guitar player, I do things the old fashioned way...I listen to the song over and over again and figure out the chords myself. Now if I write these down and should I post them on the net..It would be MY interpratation of the chords used.If I do not SELL said chords I donot believe they can sue. AS the chords were played over public airwaves and should be public domain. Now if I copied the actual published sheet music, That would be copyright infringement. Not being a lawyer I have no idea of the legality of my position....but it does make some sense.


That being said, I wonder if the Tab music can be concidered a different form of the same thing...almost like translating a written document from english to russian or verse visa. If that is the case then it would be copywrite infringment to recreate said music.

My opinion is that if you do not sell sheet music, then it should be legal. If I decided to place a sheet music score in a public place where all could see
and copy if they wanted to, say on a table in a pub. Would that be copywrite infringement? Is posting something on the net a form of publishing? This is a pretty grey area ifyou ask me....
Rigel

- Rigel

Being an amature Guitar player, I do things the old fashioned way...I listen to the song over and over again and figure out the chords myself. Now if I write these down and should I post them on the net..It would be MY interpratation of the chords used.If I do not SELL said chords I donot believe they can sue. AS the chords were played over public airwaves and should be public domain. Now if I copied the actual published sheet music, That would be copyright infringement. Not being a lawyer I have no idea of the legality of my position....but it does make sense.

Rigel

Which is my very same opinion - apart from that I'm not a mature guitar player, of course

Marco

which is also the case.

Rigel pretty much nailed it. It makes no difference if it's in audible form or written form it is copyright material which means nobody has a legal right to freely mass produce and make availble even if they do it at "No Charge". This isn't an issue of banning it is an issue of the owners making money from them. If you've been to a music store you will find books with bands music in them which you pay for, that's what it is about.

Although I taught myself to play waaayyyy pre internet and still consider myself an amateur, I have always learned by listening but will admit I have searched tab sites for that one chord I couldn't figure out or that one lyric I couldn't understand. I have also discovered that many of the offerings/interpretations include wrong lyrics or chords anyways. That being said I don't kid myself into thinking I have a Constitutional or God given right to this stuff.

Most everybody shares these sort of things between friends, that's the way it has always been and will always be. Unfortunately today with technology being what it is and the Internet being widely available many people think they are entitled and do stupid things like offering any and all material to any and everybody which draws attention to themselves.

Garage bands and weekend warriors always seem to do fine before the "Net", if all the Tab sites went away tomorrow.....they'll still be jammin'

Just play it by ear man, you'll remember a lot more and won't rely on TAB, Chord charts or Dots

Knew you'd head for this one m8.
Glad ya found us at last!