I see the points from both sides on this one. I understand that people that depend on their music as a source of income are hurt by illegal copies...but I think that they are just as hurt by the sheer number of people that take a cut out of the money made off of their work product.
What people don't realize is that there is a healthy living that can be made without being signed, and ultimately not being under the RIAA's wing. There is a local band in Chicago (
7th Heaven) that has been unsigned since the late 80's. They have taken a complete grass roots approach to their music and they clear $250k a year. On top of playing shows, they also run a local recording studio and web site company. They make their money by living their music. They often play multiple shows per week (at one point they had 7 shows in 6 days). Sure they have roadies and merchandise people that get their cuts, but ultimately, they are smart about the way they do their business.
Here is some
recent RIAA news that really ticks me off. Personally, I use tabs found online as a jump start for learning a song. Maybe there's a chord that's giving me trouble, or maybe I know the chords, but there's a simple solo that I can't quite place. That's when I go to the online tabs. Anybody that's ever used online tabs knows that the quality of 75% of the tabs found are sub-par, so it's tough to use them without using some creativity and intuition. If there's something that I want to learn note for note, or is clearly too complex for tabs (i.e. Dream Theater), I will go out and buy the book.
Playing other people's music inspires me to become a better musician. I see tabs as a way for people wanting inspiration to get it from their peers. If someone has a stellar ear and can accuratly transcribe what they hear, then what's the harm in that? Now, if they buy the book and transcribe based on that, I see that as copyright infringement. I view that as translating a book to another language and making it freely available.
What's next? Requiring a band to obtain a license to play a song live?