Sheet Music Websites and Copyright Infringement

James T. Tsai, George Mason University School of Public Policy and Case Western Reserve University School of Law, has published "The Unlitigated Case: A Study of the Legality of Guitar Tablatures," forthcoming in Boston College Intellectual Property and Technology Forum. Here is the abstract.

Guitar tablature Web sites have been the subject of recent cease-and-desist letters, forcing most to shut down. Litigation has been side-stepped with the arrival of new creative means to continue operation. The case that may have gone to court is discussed here, ranging from the appropriate legal claims of copyright infringement to the fair-use-defense arguments that would have been made. Policy solutions are considered to resolve the tension between the public's desire to use such tablatures and the copyright owners of the original artists.

Download the article from SSRN here.