Reply #30: i think i agree with the fair use viewpoint. [View All]

especially because lyrics and tabs don't undermine sales of the original recording. in fact, they probably act as a form of advertising.

how many people go online for free lyrics and tabs and never pay (one way or another) to hear the original? most likely, you'll buy (or have already bought) the original so you can play along with it in order to perfect your cover of it.

moreover, if you've compared different transcriptions of the same song, you'll notice that there's actually value added by the transcriber in the form of how and to what extent to simplify the original performance (because sheet music is almost never 100% accurate). meaning it's not just stealing someone's copyrighted work, it's building upon one product to create another.