Strong arming Tabs

[FartinMowler]

The National Music Publishers' Association ("NMPA") and The Music Publishers' Association of the United States, Inc. ("MPA") have ordered the Online Guitar Archive (OLGA) off-line. OLGA - A Tabulation Cooperation hosted tablature for many guitar songs that were created by its members.

We are all aware of the RIAA jihad against their customers and the MPAA taking on those who share illegal copies of movies. In December of last year, we reported about the lyric sites being shutdown.

Now, the tablature, or more commonly known as tab, sites are under attack. It appears that the first to fall is the well known Online Guitar Archive (OLGA). OLGA has been around for a long time and was a collection of tab created by many different individuals. The users created tab by listening or playing the music and then recording what they perceived to be the correct sequence of playing of the instrument. While the authors of the tab relied on their own interpretations, the music publishers have claimed that the creation of the tab is a violation of copyrights held by the music authors.

There are many bluegrass tab publishers and promoters. From AcuTab to BanjoTab, the bluegrass music community has tab everywhere. Steve Kaufman's guitar tab is found in many bluegrass association newsletters across the entire country. The list goes on and on.

Why so much tab in bluegrass? Because, bluegrass fans generally also play the music. Festivals, jams and other gatherings are always filled with pickers playing the traditional bluegrass songs. Some learn by ear but many learn from tab. In a genre where participation is key, tab is a natural fit.

The music publishers claim, in a letter to OLGA, "In fact, U.S. copyright law specifically provides that the right to make and distribute arrangements, adaptations, abridgements, or transcriptions of copyrighted musical works, including lyrics, belongs exclusively to the copyright owner of that work." This is the same reasoning being used to shutdown many lyric sites.

The RIAA strong-arm tactics did have a positive result in that "authorized" songs are good quality for a reasonable price ($0.99/song) and made available through media outlets like iTunes where the songs are tracked by volume and royalties paid as appropriate.

Should tab and lyrics find their way into the legitimate market place, then accurate tablature and correct lyrics may also be available. Many times lyrics are incorrect - often with complete verses missing. Tab for a given song also varies across a broad spectrum. I have some banjo and guitar tab for some songs that are so different, one might even consider them different songs. The key is different, chords vary and many other differences are often found.

Will this current attack on tab and lyrics be detrimental or beneficial remains to be seen but, the reality of the matter is that litigation in the music arena is here to stay.

I know that most of these Tabs are innacurate but atleast it gives me something to work with...I can't find tab for most bands in a music store that I like :/

[Sacks]

This is some serious bullshit. Are there any bands or musicians who requested someone take this action? What kind of asshole doesn't want people to play their songs? I hope the youth of the nation goes completely into the shitter! Then when some news guy pulls a 12 year old junkie out of the garbage and asks him why, he tells them it's because he wasn't allowed to play his favorite songs with his best pals safely tucked away in the garage. This shit is dildos.

[executioneer]

fuck the riaa to hell