If you have been looking for Guitar Tabs Universe you have probably figured out that the site is no longer working. Many people looked to this website to learn how to play their favorite songs in a easy to understand and learn format, with guitar tabs. However, Rob Balch, the one time manager of Guitar Tab Universe decided that he must close the doors of his site in 2006.

Why did Balch close the website? Well, there were a variety of reasons combined, but they all culminated from the fact that MPA (Music Publishers’ Association) and the NMPA (National Music Publishers’ Association) decided that sharing guitar tabs was an infringement on the copyright owned by the writers, producers, and performers of the songs in question.

Guitar Tabs Universe and its owner faced legal action from these organizations citing infringement on copyright. It happened and was quite a shock to the owner. sharing with other people how to learn how to play songs or guitar via the internet is against the ethics of these organizations.

However, as Blach pointed out in his “Goodbye Letter”, Guitar Tabs Universe was about sharing with others the art of learning how to play the guitar. It was not about stealing other people songs, it was not about infringing on the rights of others, it was simply about using various songs and their guitar tabs, showing others how they too can learn how to play.

Rob Blach could not have been more right when he asked how guitar tabs on the internet is so different from being taught songs by a music teacher or helping a friend learn how to play something that was heard on television or your radio. What the MPA and NMPA seem to think is that using the internet as a medium for sharing is crossing the proverbial line.

Guitar Tabs Universe closed it doors because the MPA and NMPA sent threats to the websites ISP or hosting server and the server took action due to these threat. However, as you can plainly see, this has not stopped the world at large from sharing the love of guitar and learning how to play it.

If you believe for some reason that guitar tabs are infringing on their rights, then you might as well say that millions of people across the world are committing the same crime. Consider everyone who have enjoyed their favorite tunes, By just listening you can learn to play. There are many, many people who have shown their friends how to learn songs. If that is the case, all of the cover bands and beginning bands that do not write their own music.

So, if you, like many others were looking for the now defunct Guitar Tabs Universe, you now know why it is no longer available. However, the idea lives on as evident by the many guitar tabs websites available all across the internet.