Good Copy Bad Copy - What Constitutes Fair Use?

I really don't have much to say in regards to the subject of music. Mainly because I am a major pirate in a sense. I've never bought a cd in my life. All the music that I own is downloaded. Obviously its theft because the artists of this music used their own money to get their music produced. The music is a product of their mind and who am I do not recognize them for that creativity. They should be getting something anytime someone experiences their creation. But alas, I still don't feel guilty about getting their music for free. I try to make up for it by not sharing the music I download with my friends. I only use it for my own listening purposes.

One thing I came across a little while ago is the subject of music tablature. Is that copyright infringement?

I play guitar, and I used to enjoy looking up the tablature for various songs that I liked so that I could learn to play those songs, and in doing so, practice various techniques. However, about a year ago, when I went to browse one of my favorite sites for tablature, I found that they had removed all the tabs from their site. Apparently the big name music associations had shut them down saying that the tablature was copyright infringement.

I disagree with this of course. All the tabs on that site were user submitted. These users basically listened to the songs and wrote down what they thought they heard. Then they submitted them to a site so that others could attempt to learn the song. Thats no different then one or two people sitting down at someones house, listening to a song, and then attempting to play it themselves. These big name music associations just feel like controlling every aspect of the music they sell I guess.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

Music tablature is copyright infringement. The artists get paid when their music gets printed in one of those guitar or piano books, and if you are a songwriter and not a musician yourself, that can provide a good chunk of income.

The act of doing tabs yourself would be akin to taking a book, recording yourself reading it aloud, and then distributing it.

Yah, I guess that makes sense. I guess also in a round about way, even if noone is making money by sharing the tabs, the people learning from the tabs could possibly end up making money with their own music. Music that they learned through the exploitation of another's music. Possibly a stretch but I see your point.

There's nowhere I can't reach.