Dear Piano Teachers:

I’m overwhelmed at the global response to my post, “The Truth About Piano Lessons.”

It seems that we are ALL going through the same thing: From Egypt to Estonia, Sri Lanka to Sweden, Cuba to China, the story has been read and passed around the world.

Unfortunately, it has also been reprinted (sometimes with alterations that I never even saw!) without my permission.

This puts me in a difficult predicament:

I WANT the article to be read and to help as many teachers and student families as possible.

But I make my living as a writer and a musician. I am the copyright owner of this blog, and I have not given permission for people to reprint the post on their blogs. This is not a matter of plagiarizing: Almost everyone has given me credit. But even if you give me credit, you do not have permission to reprint the article on line.

Reprinting MY post on YOUR blog hurts my business, because readers doing a search about piano lessons may find my post on your blog instead of on mine. Google pays me based on page views and advertising revenues on my blog, and it can and does penalize writers whose works are found in multiple places on the Internet. I also want people who view that post to be able to read the other articles on my site.

As much as I appreciate your valuing my work, I therefore have to ask that you respect my copyright.

There is an easy solution: You are welcome to reprint the first 50 words, and send readers to my blog via a link, to read the rest of the article. You may also print hard copies for your personal students, as long as my name and the address of the blog are clearly visible.

Thank you for your understanding,

Karen