It's started and I bet everyone who thinks it violates KJ's rights are gonna pull their CB songs as well as their SC ones. Who knows they might even pull their Top Hits Monthly, Pop Hits Monthly, UKKaraoke etc. as well since they're next in line to start the suits. Anyway the link to the story:
http://www.knoxviews.com/
Chartbuster is now suing KJ's and Venues
As long as you are 1:1 just go do the audit and you're covered. They are only interested in the actual pirates, the ones with the loaded hard drives. One caveat of doing the audits is free advertising for your company on their site where they list the legal KJ's who have been certified to having legal libraries. Both Sound Choice and Chartbuster have this.
Sweet Georgia Brown is now CB property.
Sweet Georgia Brown is now CB property.
I own 7 pieces of SC.. foundations 1 and 2, and bricks 1,2,3,4,5
Id buy mortors if theyd still produce them.. but they do not understand how to do business.
and my Shows go off without anyone ever saying I run "sun par" titles matter of fact Ive converted many people from their idea that SC was the only version of a song worth singing. Im all for companies being compensated for their products.. but until any of them, make me more money by actually shutting down comapnies running illegal shows, its all BS to line their own pockets, and not worth me traveling at my own expense for a worthless piece of paper.
Id buy mortors if theyd still produce them.. but they do not understand how to do business.
and my Shows go off without anyone ever saying I run "sun par" titles matter of fact Ive converted many people from their idea that SC was the only version of a song worth singing. Im all for companies being compensated for their products.. but until any of them, make me more money by actually shutting down comapnies running illegal shows, its all BS to line their own pockets, and not worth me traveling at my own expense for a worthless piece of paper.
MikoZuna,
An Auditor will be coming to our little piece of the world soon and will be able to provide audits for SC/CB/Stellar or a full audit for all manus to qualify for KIAA membership. I will be happy to post info here when the dates are confirmed and who to contact if you want an audit. No need to pack anything up and travel out of the Tampa Bay Area. The process to clean up the industry is not going to occur overnight but I can assure you we are already making more money and have increased # of shows with our certifications.
Athena
An Auditor will be coming to our little piece of the world soon and will be able to provide audits for SC/CB/Stellar or a full audit for all manus to qualify for KIAA membership. I will be happy to post info here when the dates are confirmed and who to contact if you want an audit. No need to pack anything up and travel out of the Tampa Bay Area. The process to clean up the industry is not going to occur overnight but I can assure you we are already making more money and have increased # of shows with our certifications.
Athena
more money wont be made until shows are non existant that cost a bar 50. you can go on craislist, right now and but hds loaded with songs.. but yet the end users are the ones paying fot it with all the bs.
if i say i want 200 a night, i get told we'll pay 100. and they get a crap show for it.. but they (the owners) do not care.. only that they pay less.
if i say i want 200 a night, i get told we'll pay 100. and they get a crap show for it.. but they (the owners) do not care.. only that they pay less.
The world is full of crap KJs with and without loaded hard drives. Both of them ruin the pay scale.
Stopping the sale of loaded hard drives won't stop the bad KJs. Sooner or later most of them go under anyway.
Just because they were able to get started cheap doesn't mean they know what they are doing. The hard drive only came with songs, not a success manual.
I have stopped worrying about KJs with hard drives because they aren't up to my quality. Most of my competition now has been in business for years. The crap comes and quickly goes.
Stopping the sale of loaded hard drives won't stop the bad KJs. Sooner or later most of them go under anyway.
Just because they were able to get started cheap doesn't mean they know what they are doing. The hard drive only came with songs, not a success manual.
I have stopped worrying about KJs with hard drives because they aren't up to my quality. Most of my competition now has been in business for years. The crap comes and quickly goes.
Re: Chartbuster is now suing KJ's and Venues
A year and a few months later.... where is Chartbuster now? Their song tracks are still on my hard drive. It seems the others were a little reluctant to jump on the BS bandwagon. Makes you wonder where Sound Choice is going to be in a year from now.DanG2006 wrote:It's started and I bet everyone who thinks it violates KJ's rights are gonna pull their CB songs as well as their SC ones. Who knows they might even pull their Top Hits Monthly, Pop Hits Monthly, UKKaraoke etc. as well since they're next in line to start the suits. Anyway the link to the story:
http://www.knoxviews.com/
NEWSFLASH: A suit against four multiple-show karaoke operators naming at total of 45 North Carolina KJS (!) as defendants was filed by SLEP-TONE corp (Sound Choice) December 5, 2011 in NC western district court, Charlotte. A venue, also named in one of the suits, sought dismissal claiming its KJ was a sub-contractor, but had its motion DENIED. I read the briefs but have not as yet been able to find a response brief from the defendants, but its only been five months, maybe they are trying to buy time with the continuance game.
Once there is a decision, the floodgates are CERTAIN to open and bootleg hard-drive KJs will be going down for sure. I mean, let's face it, Sound Choice has a very good case - these operators are using their intellectual property illegally in plain sight of thousands and Sound Choice can show they were put out of business because of it. Slam dunk. I have heard many other karaoke studios are anxiously awaiting the decision for favorable precedent to launch their own suits against bootleg KJs - against the same defendants and as many others as they can find.
Hopefully, damage settlements flowing in to the coffers will allow them to resume their studio operations in again - the demise of which has denied dozens if not hundreds of session musicians, engineers and producers in NC and TN good quality work.
As far as KJs who have legitimately loaded their CDGs onto hard-drives, my guess is you are safe so long as you are 1-1 (one loaded drive per CDG system) and can prove it. You prove it by never getting rid of your CDGS and/or holding onto your download receipts from legitimate download sources.
Here in my hometown of Wilmington, NC, it seems like EVERYONE running karaoke except me is using harddrives with bootlegged content. I was at a show Thursday night where the karaoke book had over 700 two-column pages (two 3 inch volumes) with about 100 songs per page. It made me sick. That would mean over 70,000 songs or $50,000 to $100,000 in karaoke music if purchased legally. Meanwhile, this "KJ" had one shitty mic and one speaker and, of course, no crowd TV.
Big Dog you are incorrect in assuming these guys will disappear just because they suck -you argue against your own well-spoken logic of the ignorance and cheapness of clubowners - They will take the illegal $50 KJ over the honest $150 KJ 90 percent of the time - which lines up with the SC and CB estimate that 90% of all KJs now use bootleg content (even formerly honest KJs because these market pressures encourage them to do the same to stay current and competitive).
I have been undercut here in Wilmington several times by operators I STRONGLY suspect work with illegal music. I am down to three shows a week. I have fought back by alerting my remaining clubs to the imminent danger of lawsuits and assuring them (by showing them three large road cases of discs!) that my music is legal.
Some of the bootleggers think they are protecting themselves (while saving buttloads of money) by not putting out songbooks (the just-tell me-what-you-want-to sing routine) but there is no way to scrub the Sound Choice, Chartbuster, Pop Hits, etc., screenshots from every track and that alone is basis for (and damning evidence of) copywright infringement.
My predicition is the courts will judge in favor of Sound Choice and bootleg KJs will begin to quit as news of damage awards in the tens of thousands per KJ starts to spread. Clubowners - who are NEVER ignorant when it comes to being deathly afraid of lawsuits - will begin to cancel their bootleg shows, maybe helping musicians in the short term by opening up more nights for live music instead, since that is what their BMI/ASCAP/SESAC fees actually covers.
For KJs like us, who actually have honest libraries we spent thousands of dollars on over the years, we will be in better shape because A) the illegals will be gone and if they want to get back in the game will have to invest thousand$S just like we did (and probably won't because they are cheap and they suck) and B) rates will go up, basic supply and demand.
I'll be back with some links and stuff later, have to take.my girl to work. };=D UNITED WE ROCK!
Once there is a decision, the floodgates are CERTAIN to open and bootleg hard-drive KJs will be going down for sure. I mean, let's face it, Sound Choice has a very good case - these operators are using their intellectual property illegally in plain sight of thousands and Sound Choice can show they were put out of business because of it. Slam dunk. I have heard many other karaoke studios are anxiously awaiting the decision for favorable precedent to launch their own suits against bootleg KJs - against the same defendants and as many others as they can find.
Hopefully, damage settlements flowing in to the coffers will allow them to resume their studio operations in again - the demise of which has denied dozens if not hundreds of session musicians, engineers and producers in NC and TN good quality work.
As far as KJs who have legitimately loaded their CDGs onto hard-drives, my guess is you are safe so long as you are 1-1 (one loaded drive per CDG system) and can prove it. You prove it by never getting rid of your CDGS and/or holding onto your download receipts from legitimate download sources.
Here in my hometown of Wilmington, NC, it seems like EVERYONE running karaoke except me is using harddrives with bootlegged content. I was at a show Thursday night where the karaoke book had over 700 two-column pages (two 3 inch volumes) with about 100 songs per page. It made me sick. That would mean over 70,000 songs or $50,000 to $100,000 in karaoke music if purchased legally. Meanwhile, this "KJ" had one shitty mic and one speaker and, of course, no crowd TV.
Big Dog you are incorrect in assuming these guys will disappear just because they suck -you argue against your own well-spoken logic of the ignorance and cheapness of clubowners - They will take the illegal $50 KJ over the honest $150 KJ 90 percent of the time - which lines up with the SC and CB estimate that 90% of all KJs now use bootleg content (even formerly honest KJs because these market pressures encourage them to do the same to stay current and competitive).
I have been undercut here in Wilmington several times by operators I STRONGLY suspect work with illegal music. I am down to three shows a week. I have fought back by alerting my remaining clubs to the imminent danger of lawsuits and assuring them (by showing them three large road cases of discs!) that my music is legal.
Some of the bootleggers think they are protecting themselves (while saving buttloads of money) by not putting out songbooks (the just-tell me-what-you-want-to sing routine) but there is no way to scrub the Sound Choice, Chartbuster, Pop Hits, etc., screenshots from every track and that alone is basis for (and damning evidence of) copywright infringement.
My predicition is the courts will judge in favor of Sound Choice and bootleg KJs will begin to quit as news of damage awards in the tens of thousands per KJ starts to spread. Clubowners - who are NEVER ignorant when it comes to being deathly afraid of lawsuits - will begin to cancel their bootleg shows, maybe helping musicians in the short term by opening up more nights for live music instead, since that is what their BMI/ASCAP/SESAC fees actually covers.
For KJs like us, who actually have honest libraries we spent thousands of dollars on over the years, we will be in better shape because A) the illegals will be gone and if they want to get back in the game will have to invest thousand$S just like we did (and probably won't because they are cheap and they suck) and B) rates will go up, basic supply and demand.
I'll be back with some links and stuff later, have to take.my girl to work. };=D UNITED WE ROCK!
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
quote "but there is no way to scrub the Sound Choice, Chartbuster, Pop Hits, etc., screenshots from every track and that alone is basis for (and damning evidence of) copywright infringement." Unquote
Actually, this is completely untrue.
It's a fairly simple matter to remove a few seconds of video and audio from the two files.
Given that it does take time to do this, editing 1000's of files would be a pain but I have absolutely no doubt that if I sat down and thought about it, it could be done as a batch job and all the files could be done automatically.
For example, Sunfly files ALWAYS kick in the audio at 10 seconds in, so a dawdle to batch file edit their tunes.
Similarly, the ends of the files could be done, as well.
Sandy.
Actually, this is completely untrue.
It's a fairly simple matter to remove a few seconds of video and audio from the two files.
Given that it does take time to do this, editing 1000's of files would be a pain but I have absolutely no doubt that if I sat down and thought about it, it could be done as a batch job and all the files could be done automatically.
For example, Sunfly files ALWAYS kick in the audio at 10 seconds in, so a dawdle to batch file edit their tunes.
Similarly, the ends of the files could be done, as well.
Sandy.
OK, I'm back....for more information on the lawsuits and stuff go tomy open facebook group, Wilmington Arts & Music Club or freind me on facebook, Christopher Djbe Bifani, where I have published links to the legal briefs and other literature and a youtube news report.
In the meantime, you can fight back against your own illegal competition by educating your singers - tell them straight up that illegal karaoke has put hundreds of music professionals out of business during a recession no less, endangering countless families. Tell clubowners they are not exempt just because they pay their annual alphabet fees!
Good luck, my friends! And...if you are one of the illegal KJs out there, screw you, punk you're going DOWN! };=D
In the meantime, you can fight back against your own illegal competition by educating your singers - tell them straight up that illegal karaoke has put hundreds of music professionals out of business during a recession no less, endangering countless families. Tell clubowners they are not exempt just because they pay their annual alphabet fees!
Good luck, my friends! And...if you are one of the illegal KJs out there, screw you, punk you're going DOWN! };=D
Visit my page on FB....Karaoke Karolina. Check out my store/studio/art gallery AXXTACY GUITARS & GEAR M-F 2PM-7PM, 5285 Main, Shallotte, NC. 910-795-9083
Your guess is wrong. The Sound Choice law suits are not targeting just KJs with illegally obtained song tracks. They are targeting EVERY KJ who plays their format shifted song tracks in public. They make no distinction between those who bought loaded hard drives and those who bought their discs and ripped them to a hard drive 1:1 compliant.djBe wrote:As far as KJs who have legitimately loaded their CDGs onto hard-drives, my guess is you are safe so long as you are 1-1 (one loaded drive per CDG system) and can prove it. You prove it by never getting rid of your CDGS and/or holding onto your download receipts from legitimate download sources.
The suit is about trademark infringement and they are using this as a legal ploy to force ALL KJs into submitting to their audit. And you get to pay for that privilege. And keep paying for it.
djBe, do you play Sound Choice songs from your hard drive? If your answer is yes then YOU are an illegal KJ.
The key word is if you have not received PERMISSION to rip your SC songs onto the drive then you are illegal. That has been established with the Dan Levine case. Because of piracy the only way to gain that permission is to submit to an audit to prove you are 1:1.
It is not a ploy but a fact of life. You don't keep paying for the audit. It is a one time fee. They just ask that you send in proof of 1:1 if you add over 2% of what you were audited at. Since SC is not making new music right now that should be negligible.
It is not a ploy but a fact of life. You don't keep paying for the audit. It is a one time fee. They just ask that you send in proof of 1:1 if you add over 2% of what you were audited at. Since SC is not making new music right now that should be negligible.
From the audit agreement...
"If you successfully complete the audit, Sound Choice will be willing to not file suit or dismiss the suit against you provided that you agree to adhere to all applicable copyright and trademark laws with regard to the use of Sound Choice accompaniment tracks and to submit to future audits at Sound Choice’s reasonable request."
Are you going to guarantee that these future audits won't happen? Who do you think will pay for these?
"If you successfully complete the audit, Sound Choice will be willing to not file suit or dismiss the suit against you provided that you agree to adhere to all applicable copyright and trademark laws with regard to the use of Sound Choice accompaniment tracks and to submit to future audits at Sound Choice’s reasonable request."
Are you going to guarantee that these future audits won't happen? Who do you think will pay for these?
I have been a certified KJ since November 15, 2010 and have yet to even be asked for any other audits from SC. CB let me get out of having to go through the recertification process because I only had 6 of their discs plus the KJ Media Pro HD.
If they were to ask I would comply because I have nothing to hide. Only those who have something to hide should be worried about going through the process.
If they were to ask I would comply because I have nothing to hide. Only those who have something to hide should be worried about going through the process.
