I’ve just seen this story at the BBC about lawyers representing two associations of music publishers in the States.

They’ve closed olga, the online guitar archive. The site had a large number of tabs – sort of like guitar sheet music – for thousands of songs.  They were unofficial, worked out by fans, and many of them weren’t much good at all.

But it’s the way I learned to play the meagre few songs I know.  I play a knackered second-hand guitar with bent tuning pins.  I can only just manage more chords than fingers on my fret hand, and I don’t have the time to practice.  I’ve no intention ever of buying guitar music written down, and no intention of ever buying a decent guitar, or
performing in public.

Now I have no way of even trying to improve my repertoir or play any more songs.

It’s not even as if the vast majority of songs were even available commercially.  And its not as if each artist who felt like his copyright was being infringed has requested his songs be removed.  It’s a blanket “take everything down” – and it even includes folk songs for which no copyright exists.

Go and read all the comments made on the BBC story.  They have everything to say, I think.