OT: Tabs and lyrics online illegal?

[kazahana]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4508158.stm

It will be a sad day when tabs and lyrics aren't freely available online. Tabs generally aren't 100% accurate and who cares that lyrics can be accessed online? It's not as if you can't hear them when you listen to the song anyway.

I think Bill Thompson expresses the situation nicely in this article:

If they cannot come up with a business model which allows them to make profits without criminalising their customers, trampling over our civil liberties or installing malware on our computers then they do not deserve to stay in business, and new ways for artists to reach the public will have to emerge.

 

[RequiemX]

I think this is complete bullshit. (pardon my language)

You know what I use lyric sites for? When I hear something cool on the radio I record the lyrics on my cellphone then Google them when I get back to my computer. And I usually end up buying it. BUYING IT.

Whatever.

 

[proulxski]

yeh that is pretty gayness...However with the power everyone has now days it will probably happen! (or won't...since it is 'USUALLY' Illegal to do something but you son't ever get caught lol!)

 

[dew]

This is going to get thrown out of court. These are peoples interpretations of the songs, for personal research purposes. None of this is illegal.

 

[The Metal Chick]

They're always trying to come up with something to screw people. This is so totally lame. Porn on the internet is legal, but tabs and lyrics aren't? Whatever.

 

[Kronikle66]

Are they afraid that someone will find guitar tabs and lyrics of some shitty band, make a cover band, then start distributing covers of their songs free over the internet?

Oh and does this mean all those angsty teens on deviantArt are going to get sued for embedding Linkin Park and Tool lyrics onto their shitty 40 layered photoshops that describe their inner struggle against the darkness in their soul?

 

[MorphineChild205]

Oh and does this mean all those angsty teens on deviantArt are going to get sued for embedding Linkin Park and Tool lyrics onto their shitty 40 layered photoshops that describe their inner struggle against the darkness in their soul?

LOL!

 

[OfSinsAndShred]

Um... yeah, I'll be okay with this, when music publishers start printing out sheet music of any band I want to learn the songs of. If they were making Symphony X tab books, I can see, but there are only scores for bands of the utmost popularity. I don't see how they can hold the rights to songs that aren't even in print.

"Mr Keiser said he did not just want to shut websites and impose fines, saying if authorities can "throw in some jail time I think we'll be a little more effective"."
Holy shit! What a tool.

 

[Horus]

I officially have to add Bill Thompson to my "People who are huge ASS HOLES!!!!!" list. He basically said "If it doesn't make a profit, it shouldn't be legal." And that, my e-friends, makes him a huge ASS HOLE!!!!!

 

[kazahana]

I officially have to add Bill Thompson to my "People who are totally GAY!!!!!" list. He basically said "If it doesn't make a profit, it shouldn't be legal." And that, my e-friends, makes him totally GAY!!!!!

You're a moron. On multiple counts. He didn't say that at all. Your comments are also probably offensive to homosexuals.

 

[Horus]

Edited.

You're a moron. On multiple counts. He didn't say that at all. Your comments are also probably offensive to homosexuals.

I already know I'm a moron. And I think many other people here do as well, so it really doesn't need saying. But yes, I am a moron, in all the truth and glory of the word.

 

[RequiemX]

This is going to get thrown out of court. These are peoples interpretations of the songs, for personal research purposes. None of this is illegal.

The problem with large monopolies sending cease and desist orders to small companies and individuals is that they can't afford to go to court, so they're basically stuck with complying. Don't you love America?

 

[bball_1523]

haha we're screwed unless we step up

 

[ThornsOfSorrow]

I thought I posted in here, but apparently I didn't, since I don't see my post anywhere. So here it is again:
Obviously, like everyone else, I think that this is insane. If there were tab books for Symphony X and other good bands I would buy them, but these don't exist, so I have no choice but to download my tabs. I don't see what's wrong with it, because the bands aren't losing any money. What's wrong with people using tabs to learn and/or teach others how to play songs?

 

[RequiemX]

I thought I posted in here, but apparently I didn't, since I don't see my post anywhere. So here it is again:
Obviously, like everyone else, I think that this is insane. If there were tab books for Symphony X and other good bands I would buy them, but these don't exist, so I have no choice but to download my tabs. I don't see what's wrong with it, because the bands aren't losing any money. What's wrong with people using tabs to learn and/or teach others how to play songs?

What's wrong is that the record companies aren't making any money when we teach each other how to play a song.

 

[Horus]

Do the record companies even have any legal rights to any part of the music other than the listening part?

And what about bands that put official tabs on their website?

 

[The Metal Chick]

And what about bands that put official tabs on their website?

Exactly. I think most bands enjoy the fact that others want to learn how to play their songs. It's not a matter of copyright crap.

 

[ElPredicador]

Exactly. I think most bands enjoy the fact that others want to learn how to play their songs. It's not a matter of copyright crap.

Actually, the most interested in copyright stuff are record companies, most bands do not actually care about them (well, they do care, but just aren't that paranoid).
In the words of Daniel Gildenlow:

First of all, of course it helps you to get your point through if it is digested, or at least received, by a lot of people. But there is more to it. I mean, it would be just as sufficient if all people got your music for free, through downloading it or copying it, for instance. However, if you look at it from a long-term perspective you will find it necessary to sell at least a fair deal of albums, since your ability to devote yourself to your music and worlds of creation derives from your financial situation and, uttermost, how well your creations are received and how much that generates. If nobody bought an album I would probably have to give up after two or three attempts as an artist, no matter how big my communicative or artistic urge would be. In short, if I had to work 8 hours a day with plumbing to be able to pay rent and food and have that as my sole income, I would never be able to invest so much time and effort in the music and concepts that I create.

Most bands do not care if their music is copied around, as long as they get a reasonable monthly income.

 

[SyXified]

Tabs represent individual interpretations of a certain musical piece. Theres is no legal copyright to that. When you make music aurally available to people, they are allowed to interpret it, you can't own sound and peoples ability to understand that sound.

Lyrics are a little dicier. There is a copyright in lyrics as a literary work. Reproducing them is technically not legal. For example, it would be clearly illegal to take a novel and reproduce it on the internet in text - you'd be interferring with sales of the novel. Lyrics are really just a shorter version of this event, but deserve their right in copyright none the less. However, posting lyrics on the net can be argued as a fair use because
1. The nature of the use - scholarly, just to share, not to make money
2. The nature of the work - lyrics are a part of a song and are generally not meant to stand on their own.
3. Substanciality of portion take - just the lyrics of the song, not the melody, arrangement, sound recording
4. Effect on the market - THE IMPORTANT ONE HERE! Posting lyrics NEVER interferes with income streams to the artist. Its not like anyone ever read the lyrics to a symhony X album and thought 'well, good enough, I'm not going to by the album now'.

There are good reasons for copyright limitations, they are just complicated. They are not as bad and greedy as people generally like to think. And as you can see, they don't allow for unreasonable things to happen. This whole case is nonsense and will definitly be thrown out of the courts. Anyone who knows anything about copyright will tell you intuitivly how moronic this attempt is.

 

[Tubbs]

I shout blasphemy!!! (People who sue for things like this should be Pwn3d like a N00B by the 1337357 of the 1337!)