I'm gonna copyright the sound of breathing...

One of my favorite tab sites, Olga.net, has been down for a while, I assumed lawsuit. So yesterday I went to check to see if it was back up and running and lo and behold - details of the "Take Down order by a law firm on behalf of the Music Publishers Association. So now not only is it "illegal" to download MP3's from the internet without artist permission (aka compensation) but they are trying to stop the downloading of "tab" or "tablature" without the permission of the artist (aka the publisher who has an arrangement with the artist). Tab is a way of writing out how to play a song without having to know or be able to read music.

Here are a couple of quotes from the MPA site:

• We are doing this to protect the interests of the creators and publishers of music so that, the profession of songwriting remains viable and that new and exciting music will be continued to be created and enjoyed for generations to come.

I had no idea that a music student who tabs out a song (for free) and allows me to use it (for free) was having such an impact on the creation of new and exciting music althought it does provide a good explanation for the crappy music that is all over MTV, etc.

• Virtually all of the songs on the tab and other music web sites are protected by copyright. Thus, any player, whether an amateur or a top professional, needs the permission of the copyright owner of a song to make an arrangement or a tab version of that song and to post it on the Internet. Otherwise, the arranger and the web site are infringing that copyright.

They even state that even if the tab is wrong it is an "interpretation" of the song and thus subject to copyright protection. It is just a matter of time before guitar instuctors will not be able to teach their students songs that they have not "paid for the privledge" to teach. Just because a guitar player figures out a song does not give them the authority to teach it without the artists consent....

In other life events, I am dubbing The Wrider the "Patron Saint of Lost Causes". She has been, with good intentions, trying to get me into Country Music. I think that explains her new moniker entirely. I will say I am down with the "Delta Dawn" by Tanya Tucker though....

Finally - SONG OF THE DAY!

Love is like Oxygen by ELO:

Love is Like Oxygen:
You get too much, you get too high,
Not enough and you're gonna die.
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen: (Love is Like Oxygen)
You get too much, you get too high, (Love is like oxygen; Too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die. (Love is like oxygen; Gonna die)
Love gets you high.

Time on my side.
I got it all.
I heard that pride
Always comes before a fall.

There's a rumor goin' around the town.
That you don't want me around.
I can't shake off my city blues.
Everywhere I turn, I lose...

Love is Like Oxygen: (Love is Like Oxygen)
You get too much, you get too high, (Love is like oxygen; Too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die. (Love is like oxygen; Gonna die)
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen: (Love is Like Oxygen)
You get too much, you get too high, (Love is like oxygen; Too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die. (Love is like oxygen; Gonna die)
Love gets you high.

Time is no healer.
If you're not there.
Holy fever.
Set words in the air.

Some things are better left unsaid.
I'm gonna spend my days in bed.
I walk the streets at night,
To be hidden by the city li-ight. City li-ight.

Love is Like Oxygen: (Love is Like Oxygen)
You get too much, you get too high, (Love is like oxygen; Too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die. (Love is like oxygen; Gonna die)
Love gets you high.

Love is Like Oxygen: (Love is like oxygen)
You get too much, you get too high, (Love is like oxygen; Too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die. (Love is like oxygen; Gonna die)
Love gets you high.