Americans buy millions of new guitars every year. Many of these are “entry-level” guitars intended for those trying to learn a new instrument. Yet somewhere in the range of 90% of new guitar players quit trying within the first year. When the electric guitar first became popular in the 1950s and 1960s, there were few ways to accelerate the learning curve. By the late 1990s, along with the advent of the internet, a tool for learning guitar and how to play popular songs reached the masses: guitar tablature or “tab” for short. The concept of tablature was not new, but the ability for an individual to read and acquire tabs through the internet was groundbreaking.
Guitar tab is essentially a shorthand method for transcribing the specific notes and chords of a song in a format that mimics the finger positions on a guitar’s fretboard. Instead of having to learn to read and translate formal sheet music, tablature is simplified. Each note is represented by a number that corresponds to a particular string and location on the fretboard. The beauty of guitar tab is that most anyone who plays guitar can transcribe a song into this format and share it with others as a teaching tool.
Naturally, it did not take long for the internet to respond in kind. Sites with collections of thousands of tabs populated the web seemingly overnight. To the surprise of no one, this also caught the attention of the music publishing industry. And their lawyers. Copyright law concerns threatened to shut down online guitar tab publishing in its entirety.
My question today is simple: while guitar tablature is likely a “derivative work” restricted by copyright law – should it be? Or should there be some sort of expressed fair use exception for guitar tablature? And if not, why not?
Wamarekani hununua mamilioni ya gitaa mpya kila mwaka. Nyingi za hizi ni gitaa za "kiwango cha kuingia" zilizokusudiwa kwa wale wanaojaribu kujifunza chombo kipya. Hata hivyo, karibu 90% ya wachezaji wapya wa gitaa huacha kujaribu ndani ya mwaka wa kwanza. Gitaa ya umeme ilipoanza kuenea katika miaka ya 1950, kulikuwa na njia chache za kuharakisha kujifunza. Kufikia mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1990, pamoja na kuibuka kwa mtandao, chombo cha kujifunza gitaa na jinsi ya kucheza nyimbo maarufu ilifikia umati: gitaa tablature au <unk>tab<unk> kwa kifupi. Tablature haikuwa mpya, lakini uwezo wa mtu kusoma na kupata tabs kupitia mtandao ulikuwa wa kuvutia. Gitaa tab ni kimsingi njia ya kifupi kwa ajili ya transcribing maelezo maalum na chords ya wimbo katika format kwamba kuiga nafasi ya vidole juu ya gitaa fretboard. Badala ya kujifunza kusoma na kutafsiri noti za muziki, tabla ni rahisi. Kila noti huwakilishwa na nambari inayolingana na kamba fulani na mahali fulani kwenye ubao wa kupiga muziki. Uzuri wa tab ya gitaa ni kwamba karibu kila mtu ambaye anacheza gitaa anaweza kuandika wimbo katika muundo huu na kuishiriki na wengine kama chombo cha kufundisha. Bila shaka, haikuchukua muda mrefu Internet iitwe kwa njia hiyo. Tovuti zenye makusanyo ya maelfu ya tabo zilijaa mtandao kwa kuonekana usiku mmoja. Haishangazi kwamba jambo hilo lilivutia pia wachapishaji wa muziki. Na wanasheria wao. Maslahi ya sheria ya hakimiliki yalitishia kufunga uchapishaji wa tab ya gitaa mtandaoni kwa ukamilifu wake. Swali langu leo ni rahisi: wakati gitaa tablature ni uwezekano wa <unk> kazi derivative <unk> kizuizi na sheria ya hakimiliki <unk> lazima iwe? Au je, kuna aina fulani ya matumizi ya haki ya wazi kwa ajili ya tablature gitaa? Na ikiwa sivyo, kwa nini usifanye hivyo?