From: elee@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Salty Freckles)
Subject: Re: Yes lyrics!
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 16:16:53 GMT

In article <1bhdufINNeca@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> be726@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Joseph A. Ellis Jr.) writes:
>
>Frankly, it leaves them in blatant violation of the law, and subject to legal
>action on a rather intimidating scale. Not only are the posters liable, but
>in all probability so are the owners of the host machines! Such files and
>groups are electronic publishing, and as such, the rights are controlled by
>the copyright holder. As I stated before, I don't care to become a test case!
>Someone, somewhere is going to get wind of this, and come down HARD on them at
>some point. I hope we all don't get caught in the blast, and since this group is
>(for the most part) clean, I believe we ought to KEEP it that way. If other
>groups can't look far enough ahead to keep the axe from falling, that's their
>problem.

Not to understate the seriousness of the problem, but who would sue the nets
for providing a non-profit repository of lyrics and tablature? Do you think
the musicians would? As a musician I wouldn't. In fact I've stated I'd feel
flattered. Do you think ASCAP or BMI would? Could you imagine the publicity
that would result? "Copyright Corporations Sue Non-Profit Computer Networks"
I think there'd be a big backlash against these companies concerning their
over-reactions.

>Yes, music IS to be shared... but not stolen! Musicians are taken advantage
>of enough as it is, by pay-to-play joints, unscrupulous recording companies,
>cheating managers, embezzling accountants, groupies with various STD's,
>and others too numerous to mention. Why must we screw each other, too?
>Any band that can afford the equipment required to play professionally can
>afford a few bucks for sheet music for a tune they can't quite getight.
>
>REAL professionals respect each other enough not to steal from each other.

And in all of this, where is theft involved as opposed to sharing? In my
opinion theft would be if InterNET charged a fee everytime you tried to FTP
the tab to "Stairway to Heaven". There is no practical reason for the
publishing companies to sue the Net since Net is not making any profit
from *SHARING* the lyrics and tablature. Sure, the law might prohibit this
but ASCAP and BMI would look a bit petty if they decided to launch a
lawsuit.

The reason why I'm apparently advocating breaking a few laws is that I think 
we're losing the real reasons why i) we play music, ii) computer networks
were established and iii) publishing companies were established. The most
important part of this all is the music. In my opinion, any musician or
person connected to music for music's sake would place the spirit and
enjoyment of music before any kind of legislation. As for computer networks,
the heart of this service is the exchange of information. I'm not talking
North American Defense Strategies but the words and music to a favorite
song. The Net is used by many beginner musicians who find it an invaluable
source for learning their instruments by example with the help of other
Net users around the world.
 
And for publishing companies, I feel their purpose is to make sure that
nobody else makes a profit from what the artist creates and not to make
sure that other musicians will not get the enjoyment from learning and
playing their songs.

With all of this said, I really don't think posting lyrics or tabs on the
Net is as dire a sin as you make it out to be. Then again, if the FBI shuts
down the networks tomorrow as a consequence of this, I'll have a lot of ASCII
characters to eat... :-)

> Joe Ellis  o/~ The Synthetic Filker o/~    |     TesserAct Studios
>     Internet:   usr6184a@tso.uc.edu        |       P.O. Box 18577

Gene Lee
elee@descartes.uwaterloo.ca