DeathCabForCoon
12/17/05, 08:23 AM
Everyone knows about the MPA threatening legal action, including jail sentences for the operators of guitar tab/lyrics sites. So I decided its time to put on my smarty pants and share what I have to say about the whole fiasco.
The MPA has gone too far by taking this step. It's one thing to try to stop illegal file sharing between people online, but sites such as Mxtabs and Ultimate-Guitar are more learning tools than anything else.
It scares me to think about what the MPA would do next if they did take leagal action against these sites and won (which i don't think they realistically can, but thats a whole different topic) What is the difference between going to a guitar lesson and having your teacher write down a chord progression for an Eric Clapton song, and going to Mxtabs and finding the same chord progression? To me that is the exact same thing. Is the MPA going to throw down a cease and disist order for every independent establishment, or dude in his basement that offers guitar lessons? I'm just trying to point out the rediculousness of the MPA's actions.
And what about covers? If people aren't allowed to learn other band's material, are we soon not going to be allowed to play cover songs at shows? Is my band not going to be allowed to play "Like A Movie" by Midtown? What about cover bands that play weddings and functions and stuff on a weekly basis? If theycan't play other band's songs, which is what the MPA is implying with their legal action, basically their career is over. This may seem like an overreaction but its something that I can very easily see happening if the MPA gets their way.
Pretty soon they could be eavesdropping on 14 year old girl's AIM profiles and suing them for posting Fall Out Boy's "Sugar We're Going Down" in it. They have gone too far. Pretty soon they are going to be telling us that
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Music is a form of art, which should be open to interpretation like all other forms of art. That is what these sites are, people's interpretations of the music they listen to. If this gets taken away, God help us. There is so much more I want to say but this is just a start. If you took the time to read this whole thing, kudos, and add your own two cents.
The MPA has gone too far by taking this step. It's one thing to try to stop illegal file sharing between people online, but sites such as Mxtabs and Ultimate-Guitar are more learning tools than anything else.
It scares me to think about what the MPA would do next if they did take leagal action against these sites and won (which i don't think they realistically can, but thats a whole different topic) What is the difference between going to a guitar lesson and having your teacher write down a chord progression for an Eric Clapton song, and going to Mxtabs and finding the same chord progression? To me that is the exact same thing. Is the MPA going to throw down a cease and disist order for every independent establishment, or dude in his basement that offers guitar lessons? I'm just trying to point out the rediculousness of the MPA's actions.
And what about covers? If people aren't allowed to learn other band's material, are we soon not going to be allowed to play cover songs at shows? Is my band not going to be allowed to play "Like A Movie" by Midtown? What about cover bands that play weddings and functions and stuff on a weekly basis? If theycan't play other band's songs, which is what the MPA is implying with their legal action, basically their career is over. This may seem like an overreaction but its something that I can very easily see happening if the MPA gets their way.
Pretty soon they could be eavesdropping on 14 year old girl's AIM profiles and suing them for posting Fall Out Boy's "Sugar We're Going Down" in it. They have gone too far. Pretty soon they are going to be telling us that
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY and
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
Music is a form of art, which should be open to interpretation like all other forms of art. That is what these sites are, people's interpretations of the music they listen to. If this gets taken away, God help us. There is so much more I want to say but this is just a start. If you took the time to read this whole thing, kudos, and add your own two cents.