Major on the online sheet music attack

Rome – Music Publishers Association never goes on vacation. Each week, it has curious initiatives in store for the online community that should protect the copyright of its members. This week the focus is on the websites they publish sheet music and song lyrics .

The dream of the editors, listening to the words of Lauren Keizer, MPA president, is to wipe out everything and sanction the managers of the offending sites with fines and a bit of jail. “(…) A little prison would be decisive. Posting scores on music sites has been completely illegal for years, ”Keizer told the BBC.

There is always a first time for everyone and MPA does not want to escape from this leitmotif. Officially it has never exposed itself with complaints, but this time Keizer – the word-processor insists on correcting it in Kaiser … – declared that he will not shy away from proceeding with real complaints. In short, the same strategy widely adopted by the majors of the discography.

“Some believe it’s legal. If once the struggle was over the use of photocopiers to reproduce sheet music, now the Web has stimulated our proactive reaction, ”added Keizer.

Last week the first offensive materialized, which ended with the closure of the popular Austrian site PearLyrics. Warner / Chappell Music Limited sent a fiery letter to the managers: a few days and all the scores online they disappeared .

“As a freeware developer I can’t risk getting involved in a lawsuit with a major, even if I don’t understand how PearLyrics could infringe copyright,” explained Walter Ritter, creator of the Austrian site.

At the same time, the download page of Apple Dashboard Widget has made all the applications that allow online access to scores and musical texts disappear. The Apple company definitely has smelled the air . Hard times are ahead for the market for serenades and seaside entertainment.

Dario d’Elia