A quick word about copyright, fair use, and derivative works for profit:
Here is the law on fair use of copyrighted material. In order to have a discussion about anything, one should probably familiarize themselves with the legitimate information available beforehand, right?
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
So, does this book violate copyright laws? Maybe!
If we look at those four factors outlined in 17 USC 107, we can see a decent argument that this book is educational in nature, a document produced through research, and other than the terrible jokes and lack of redundant analysis it would serve well as a thesis in a graduate program for jazz studies. Now we can get into the elements of amount and substantiality. Very few of these transcriptions are note-for-note complete. In other words, it would be just about impossible to publicly perform all of these tunes from start to finish based on these segments. Last, let’s talk about effect on the market. This book takes the reader directly to the YouTube channel that most closely attaches to the copyright. In other words, whenever possible I linked the actual band or record label. Additionally, I’ve attached links for merchandise, Patreon, private lessons from some of the bassists, etc… This book actually makes them money (probably not as much as they would like).
But what about the principle of the matter? Don’t these artists have rights? I truly hope that this genre of music survives and evolves through several generations of fans the way it has in the past. In order for that to be so, a collection of knowledge should be started or kept. While digital information is wonderful, a book is always better in my opinion. Plus, if one of your goals as a band is to get views, this book helps you accomplish that. I'd love to think that this book introduces younger bassists who are getting into the genre to bands they never even knew existed.
If a cease-and-desist order is sent to me (skabassbooks@gmail.com), I will gladly remove that song or artist from this book. If I get sued, the sun will still rise in the morning, lawyers will get paid like the evil vultures that they are, and the copyright holder will get virtually nothing from me. After all, this book costs around $20 to print, $10 to mail, and I spent a year and a half transcribing these tunes. At the first press of 50 books, that’s $500 in profit. That’s a whopping $1.02 per hour. The moment I start driving to the post office every week to mail these out, it actually begins to cost me money in terms of time/profit. This project is absolutely worthless by design. The Stinnett ladies tried their best to talk some sense into me and break this down into twelve small books that would each sell for $15-20, but I ignorantly chose to not profit from this work. I strongly doubt that more than 100 of these will ever be made. So, feel free to sue, but just know that the most you’ll get from me as an LLC is a heartfelt fuckoff and maybe a free book. That may seem unnecessary and impolite, but so is the American legal system.
I made this book because the only available instruction for bass players looking to get into ska consisted of shitty inaccurate tablature, playthroughs with often poor bass playing fundamentals, and a couple of reggae books that dabble. As a bass player, I can’t imagine a more fun opportunity to play walking lines, funk/soul lines, island and Latin rhythms, and metal/rock all in the same space of one song. Instead of coming up with a method book, or even worse a collection of renamed examples, I’ve collected over a year of study into the genre for the next generations to learn from. I’m probably also going to pay the voodoo lady on Cleveland Ave for some sort of protection against lawsuits just to be safe.