No Sharing Guitar Notes Either

Filed in archive Consumer Rights , Legal , RIAA, IFPI on August 22, 2006

The music industry has attacked developers of P2P file sharing software and web sites that share songs. It is now going after sites that share guitar tablature or tabs, the musical notation that tells players how they play notes, including where to place their fingers. Some top sites are Ultimate-Guitar.com, Olga.net, GuitarTabs.com, MyGuitarTabs.com, and GuitarTabs.cc.

The discussion is similar to those between RIAA and the P2P sites with songwriters on both sides of the debate. The Music Publishers' Association and the National Music Publishers' Association accuse the guitar tab sites of infringing publisher copyright and reducing revenues.

The web sites claim that their services help the industry. They educate users who buy books and create music. They provide an outlet for guitar players who can't afford to buy typical tabs that can cost $5 per tab.