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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
 Posted - 09/26/2002 : 01:28:57 AM
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For the record, I respect the administrators of websites who wish to avoid legal entanglements, whether they have merit or not. The internet is currently a place where WAY too much stuff is shared, for all kinds of reasons.
I also know that arrangements, as opposed to songs, are distinctive to the author and performer, and should be respected. Curiously, this leads the devotees--unlike me, a four-thumbed uke strummer--to create meticulous TABs of great works so that it can be recreated a continent away. This seems to be the opposite of the kolohe-style island music tradition, rambunctious and refusing to fenced in by an arrangement or convention. To each his own.
Slack key also lends itself to unique and spontaneous creations by a performer, meaning that the recorded music is worthy of copyright protection.
But if the idea that some picker may strum your song without written permission from you bothers you, maybe you need to re-examine your musical motivation.
Protecting island music with threats, or hints, of lawsuits over informal sharing is akin to killing it. And no lawyer would ever pursue a case of copyight infringement over an email of a TAB (self-produced and not available in a book/sheet) to a friend.
I believe sharing musical knowledge, where not treading on the commercial efforts (CDs, books, sheets) of island musicians, is important to Hawaii's musical heritage. Too many of my musically talented kupuna died before I figured out how to honor their memory by learning the music and the language.
But I do believe, like Raymond, that sharing works best one-on-one.
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Bruddah Chrispy
Lokahi
USA
164 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2002 : 11:02:12 AM
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Aloha kakou,
I had a brief email discussion with Ozzie Kotani over this a while back. The impression I got was that the concern was not so much copyright infringement but more the concern that inept players (like myself  ) would tab up something that really trashed the song, or that skilled guitarists with no slack key experience would tab up something that is musically correct but inadvertently detracts from Ki Ho`alu.
It's been my experience that Ozzie and Keola are quite willing to share. I've requested and received tabs for songs that I don't believe appear in any books. (Waimanalo Blues, Ku`u Home o Kahalu`u).
IMHO it's not really a threat or even a hint of lawsuits so much as "Hey, brah, dats not da way we do it, yeah?". The day may undoubtedly come when that is the way we do it, but for right now I'm willing to go along.
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Aloha a hui hou,
Chris P.
There's no regrets; only good times. |
Edited by - Bruddah Chrispy on 09/26/2002 11:05:47 AM |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2002 : 11:44:55 AM
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All great points made here. The problem is that the law is not always intuitive or fair. Just look at Internet Radio as an example. Now I am not very familiar with the issues, but I know my personal experience is that Hawaiian music broadcasted over the Internet has encouraged me to buy more CDs. Nevertheless, we saw rulings shutting many Internet radio stations down.
I am not about to argue against sharing music, tab or aloha. Perhaps the foremost theme here is bringing ki ho`alu students and those who like to listen to it together to share. Seems like that can be done without a formal "tablature exchange". It would be a shame to lose the former because of the latter. I'm very open to the copyright discussion, but I'm not a lawyer so naturally my preference is to err on the side of caution. |
Andy |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 09/26/2002 : 10:27:26 PM
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Thanks for the thoughtful replies on this topic from Raymond, Crispy and the admin of this wonderful site. We couldn't even have the discussion if the forum wasn't here.
Jesse Tinsley
Mehameha in Idaho |
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