[Dewie]

I want to hear the arguments of someone who thinks that a person that sits down and meticulously transcribes a song by ear is doing something that is ethically wrong. I really do. Is learning someone else's song something that should be illegal (I'm just throwing it out there, not talking to you specifically)? Or are they afraid that someone is going to make a midi file out of the transcription and have a grand old time rocking out to this vastly inferior version of the song while playing Super Nintendo?

Given enough time I can tab songs myself if someone decides to shut down such websites. So what does that make it on my part, some kind of copyright thought-crime?

If making tabs for songs of other people is illegal, I really want to believe that it is just some side-effect of the overarching copyright laws.

[hnha]

I am all for free sharing but here is one:

You are absolutely free to write down tabs. You are free to learn a.song. You can play it how you want as often as you want.

The problem is distribution to others. Imagine if you were a song writer who sells tabs of his songs. Wouldn't it be pretty terrible if someone ruined that by distributing cheaper or free tabs?

[Dylan16807]

Whoever is buying the tabs could have just listened. And learned the song and played it as often as they want. So my business model is already based on preference, not copyright control. I'm already competing with free. So the answer to your question is a clear 'no'.

[hauk1]

Could that argument be applied to the subtitles? If the use was "private" or just among friends. Just as how tabs are used. You are allowed to write it down, and play it.

On another note: I still fail to see how the subtitles case is different than transcribing lyrics. They are used the same.

[Dylan16807]

You could probably use a similar argument.

But I'm pretty sure the premise that you're allowed to play a song by someone else 'as often as you want' is incorrect.

[Dewie]

I'm not a professional musician (not even close) so my perspective might have been different if I was the average struggling musician trying to get ends to meet. But no, I wouldn't be bothered. I would perhaps be bothered if people pirated my recordings, but that's because of the work and money I put into those recordings, not because of the idealistic intellectual property itself. Making some tabs? On my part, that would hardly be any work, and I might have it all tabbed out to begin with. I might even publish them for free. People want to listen to my recordings? Great, but hopefully for a price. People want to play my songs? Great, I'm flattered, just go ahead and do it, with my tabs or some fan made tabs.

Keeping people from tabbing my songs feels a little like keeping the blueprints of my songs hostage. And unlike blueprints for machinery, it is right there in the open, ready to be derived by anyone who's got the ear for it. If someone shuts down tab websites, they're just making a lot of people do a lot of extra work (everybody tabs the same song, for only themselves), or force them to buy a tab book (there is... if there even is one). It isn't even comparable to buying a CD, and then ripping the songs for it to play on your own mp3 player and only for yourself; you buy a song, you listen to it, but then you have to buy the tabs for it on top of it, or do all the work yourself even if someone else has done it before? When someone distributes copies of a song by someone, they are illegally distributing copies of someones work that took time and money; but with distributing tabs, you did all the (derivative) work yourself.

Well, at least those people that have to tab every song they want to learn will get a better relative pitch out of it.