Karaoke Forums

Problem is a receipt can be created & printed by anyone today looking as authentic as the store you bought them from since most of them just use a basic layoput & a laser printer. As far as downloads, There aren't a whole lot that are really legal in themselves. The printing the license was kind of a tongue in cheek jab as he knew there would be no way the particualar company would even consider it.

Again, since format shifting (converting cdg's to hard drive) is still a grey area legal wise anyway, putting them on your hard drive to begin with is 'technically' illegal. Which is what the manus all got up in a rile when people first started doing so. But with so many doing so today, most have relaxed their stance & restated if you own the originals (in possession) & can prove that everything on your hard drive coincides with an original disc, then they would pursue no further.
If you can get them back, it would be in your best interest to do so.

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karaokedownloads.com don't exist. Do you mean buykaraokedownloads.com? This is one that cannot be proven as legal - they tend to offer stuff that is out of business and used to offer SC products - which I believe they did finally pull if I recall. Best way to do it if you need individual tracks is to order custom discs from the manus - most of them offer them now. This way you get your physical disc with the songs you need direct from the manu.

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First of all, you only need to pay if you want to upgrade to a major upgrade. I had used 3.x of Hoster for a while and when they came out with 4.x, there was an upgrade fee because it's considered a major upgrade. No different than other software licenses.

BTW, at least with the new version Hoster, you don't have to wait to have your serial number deactivated for a new install. When you completely de-install from your old computer, it automatically resets your license so you can install it on the new machine. I found out about this after contacting their tech support. It took me like 15 minutes to transfer the license from my old laptop to the new laptop.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

Thank you, Lonman. Yes, the site is buykaraokedownloads.com. This is terrible. I knew a few years ago I started having problems ripping some of the SC disks that I bought. I contacted SC, and they really weren't helpful. They didn't act like I was doing anything that was frowned upon. They just said that they were trying to cut down on piracy. Of course, I'm not computer savvy, so I'm thinking, what are they cutting down on? I'm just a KJ trying to do my job without having to wear the disk out and re-buy it or carry so many disks all the time. It was so frustrating, I quit buying SC for a while. They were too expensive for me not to be able to get around that problem. When my husband figured out how to rip them, I continued buying them.

I have learned so much doing this job over the years. Obviously, not enough. I kind of got thrown into it and learned on my own. It is inconceivable to me that there are websites out there selling illegal music. Isn't that a huge legal risk for them? They must have big balls, bigger than mine. They are online!! I assume when someone sells me something online, it is legal. Why would people be brassy enough to operate illegal businesses online? Especially with anyone in the world able to see it? That's going to be my problem. I've bought a lot of stuff from them. Which sites are legal to use? I guess I'll be spending all my money now trying to collect those songs. OHHHHH NOOOO>....

It seems to me that karaoke manufacturers and the music industry in general realized that pursuing legal action for format shifting was not in their best interests. The Supreme Court has already made several ruling that seems to indicate how they might find in such a case, and that would be in favor of format shifting.

They have made it very plain that technical advances can not be hindered by copyright. As long as no cases are brought the subject can remain in the gray which actually benefits them, rather than us.

Can someone come into your show and demand to examine you computer because they suspect digital rights infringement? Can they demand to see you 1 for 1 copies of disks? No, not even. Have the manager remove them for trespassing.... three things would have to occur before someone could get access to your computer. 1) some type of civil action would have to be brought against you, and 2) you would have to be served with a subpoena demanding that you present your computer to an officer of the court or face punishment 3) an officer of the court would collect the computer from you.

My point is, I wouldn't get all paranoid because you don't have the original disks right now. Hiring lawyers and filing motions for such things is expensive, its unlikely your karaoke show will garner attention (unless you start distributing your karaoke music to others on a wide scale) Go ahead, get the disks back, and re rip in the proper format. Simple.

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

Most likely those were the MediaCloq discs that you were having problems with. SC & a couple of others started using this for a very short time - SC only had like 42 or discs with the copy protection, around 8700-8735 or so & a handful of other numbers, until they found that some legitimate cdg players wouldn't read the discs. So they discontinued using the system & if the disc is still production, they can exchange the disc for the cost of shipping - like $5. You just send in the old disc.


Inconveivable but true. Yes it happens & there are several sites operating that are selling downloads illegally. Heck you can find completely loaded hard drives with 100K songs or more off the auction sites, can't get more illegal than that. They do eventually get picked off & shut down, but it does take time. Never assume that just because you bought online (download) that it is legal.

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I will get on that immediately. I already made some calls. Thank you guys...More than anything, I shouldn't panic. I know that I can fix this issue fairly quickly; I just feel really stupid. But it's not the first time and I'm sure it will not be the last. I'm the queen of "Open mouth, insert foot" and other such blunders.

I wouldn't feel stupid. Lack of knowledge doesn't make you dumb, just it's unknown. The sheer fact that you're trying to rectify the situation makes you just awesome. I know plenty of people who would shrug their shoulders and move on!

I've bought digital tracks from SBIKaraoke and proburn, and as far as I KNOW, it's legal.

But the jury is still out.

As Lonnie said, we computer folks are literally riding on a razor's edge.

The Fair Use Act allows copying for home use only. Many of us have openly stated to the manufactures what we're doing, and after YEARS of fighting them, SC is one of the first to change their stance... the verdict isn't in yet, for they have said they won't prosecute someone that is perfectly 1 to 1 (own a disc, and it's on ONE computer system), but they are also ramping up the digital rights on the discs, claiming they'll prosecute! !

The wave of the future is probably going to be discless... it's just how it's all going to happen, the growing pains of the transition.

That's why those of us that wanted this to happen try to convince people to hold onto their discs. You may not have to take them to your show, but you do have to prove ownership... at least, in theory.