The On-line Guitar Archive (known affectionately as OLGA) has been shuttered by the NMPA and MPA for publishing "tablature" (a simplified form of sheet music for guitar) of popular songs.
" OLGA is currently offline while we attempt to resolve legal issues with the archive. We received a 'take down' letter (pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 ) from lawyers representing the NMPA and the MPA. We greatly appreciate your support and hope to return to providing resources to the aspiring guitarist as soon as possible. "
This is going to be interesting, and potentially heartbreaking, to watch. What OLGA publishes aren't note for note reprints of original sheet music; instead the archive publishes individual musicians transcriptions of the music. Essentially OLGA represents the power of musicians playing "by ear", and then writing that information down.
This isn't the first time OLGA has faced legal pressure. In 1998 they faced threats by the Harry Fox Agency, and prior to that I can recall the site being down in 1996 for other legal attacks. OLGA has always stood strong in the face of legal battles, will the DMCA finally put the hammer down?
1. OLGA has always been THE source for guitar tab. What about the hundred of other sites that host tab? Are they all watching this legal wrangle play out? A few sites have already pulled their tabs down.
Posted at 2:59PM on Aug 17th 2006 by Don Bergenty