Until it was closed down recently, the On-Line Guitar Archive (OLGA) provided many guitar players a unique opportunity to teach and learn their favorite songs.

OLGA, at www.olga.net, is an Internet-based database of guitar tablature, music arranged easily for guitar. The database consists of submissions made by guitar players who have figured songs out by ear and transcribed them.

The archive closed on June 9 in response to a threat of a federal summons from the Harry Fox Agency, working on behalf of the National Music Publishers Association.

The Harry Fox Agency claims that OLGA is violating the publishing rights of the artists. The agency’s position is that while sharing a piece of music person to person is not a problem, due to the size of the OLGA and the availability of files on the Internet, enough people are using the files to cause a loss of income from sheet music.

Tony Lombardo, junior in religious studies, has been using the site for the last two years. Lombardo said he found the site while surfing for guitar-related information.

Lombardo said he uses OLGA as a resource when trying to learn a new song.

“Even though some of the transcriptions are grossly inaccurate, many of the transcriptions provide a starting point for more difficult pieces of music,” Lombardo said.

All submissions posted on OLGA include a disclaimer that the transcription is the artist’s interpretation of the song, and that there are no guarantees as to whether or not the transcription is correct.

Lombardo sees the disclaimer as one reason the site should be allowed to stay open.

“Because of the wide range of quality of transcriptions on OLGA, I see it as more of a forum for personal interpretation rather than accurate transcriptions,” Lombardo said. “Therefore, since the transcriptions are not exact, I don’t feel they are a violation of [publishing] laws.”

According to an article from the Washington Post on July 21, music publishers used to make 30 percent of their income from sales of print music, but that number has dropped to around 5 percent. The Harry Fox Agency claims that this drop is due at least in part to sites like OLGA.

OLGA is actively fighting the threat of legal action from the Fox Agency. On June 19, OLGA incorporated as a non-profit organization. Since then, the company has been accepting donations, and will soon have advertisements on its site in an effort to raise money for legal expenses. Visitors to the site can also sign a petition to show their support for the OLGA.

OLGA’s homepage is providing updates on their legal status, as well as links to a few “pirate” sites not sanctioned by OLGA that are still posting all the files.

Unfortunately for many guitar players, this may be the last time these files are available as an alternative to purchasing expensive sheet music.

Lombardo said he believes price is the single biggest advantage of using OLGA.

“It’s free, baby,” he explained.