Karaoke Forums

Both of those cases were initiated before I started working for SC. I don't have the precise details on how they were initiated, but I do know that SC and other karaoke producers pushed the FBI to pursue the cases. It wasn't a matter of simple cooperation.

A combined answer: The feds couldn't be bothered (they have more pressing and important work) and SC doesn't make any money on criminal prosecutions. In this I am not knocking SC. They are a business, which means they exist t make money. I may not like the way they do it these days, but it would be bad business for them to waste resources on non-profitable ventures.

You didn't think they were in it for ethical reasons, did you??

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"No Contests, No Divas, Just A Good Time!"

" Disc based and loving it..."

Gosh, the original question asked fell off track guys! . But I totally get it.

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MADPROAUDIO ~ DISABLED VETERAN ~ FAMILY OWNED COMPANY

You, me and all the other working KJs should also do out part to educate the rest of OUR industry at the consumer level not to do business with someone that is selling a loaded hard drive you know contains non authorized copies of karaoke tracks instead of just throwing the responsibility on the backs of the manus. We have a moral responsibility as business people to notify as many people up the supply chain of the crooks or the supply chain will die and we will be left with no suppliers of quality legal tracks but a bunch of competitors with loaded drives flooding our local markets with $50 kjs. The piracy battle is really a grass roots battle that we all must fight, maybe that is why sometimes there seem to be only a few "cheerleaders" trying to make a lot of noise. All the suppliers need out help to shine light on the HD sellers. First, We all know that a loaded hard drive is not legal, right? Do we all agree on that? Let's start here. Stop the demand and the seller goes away. Tell everyone and anyone you know working this business in your market that using a purchased loaded hard drive is not the legal way to do business. It hurts everyone. "Only you can prevent karaoke piracy" (sorry Smoky Bear) Piracy is a lot like politics, it all starts locally.

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No venue to big or too small. From your den to the local club or event, we have the music most requested. Great sounding system!

You are assuming that most of the theft is being done by kj's when that is not the case. every host including you has many singers at your shows who have more songs than any of us do and paid for none. there are more singers at your own shows with 150,000+ songs than hosts in your city with that many. If we do get rid of every host buying drives and stop all future hosts from buying drives, SC will still have the same problems as now because 99% of the stolen material is not by hosts but by the singers who don't care about anything but singing their song.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

...and to add to it, in some situations, it's frustrating when one of those singers (with the home loaded drive) comes up to you and says, "wow, you don't have this song or that song" or "hey man, I can get you those songs." Try to explain to them you're doing your best to support the industry by making legal purchases and they just shrug their shoulders.

I live in a resort area and so most all my contact is with folks on vacation from all over the U.S. In addition to my DJ Trivia and DJ Bingo bar gigs, I also DJ poolside at 2 resorts every week. You would not believe how many people come up to me to brag about how many songs or karaoke tracks they have, and many offer to sell them to me. Of course, I'm not interested, but who would you suggest I report them to? I had a guy yesterday about 70 years old tell me he makes a living selling bootleg hard drives with music, karaoke and movies. I just shook my head.

Also, when I was an active KJ, I DID report KJs I knew were pirates (because they told me) to Sound Choice, more than once, and they still to this day are running shows as if nothing happened. Piracy will never stop or even slow down so we can all stop acting surprised that we keep seeing it.

Singers with their own drives at home are convinced that because they don't charge money for their friends to come over and sing, they "aren't hurting anyone." I've been round and round with them.

If I explain that karaoke manufacturers are hurting and I'm hurting because it is getting more difficult to acquire new music they think I am chicken little because for them it is easy to get any song that has ever been done. They think I just don't know how to find/acquire music.

And when I have tried to "Educate" people (both KJs and Singers alike) who have bragged about how cheaply they acquired 100K+ songs for $500 (or less), it has gone on DEAF EARS. It's almost pointless to even try when all you get back as a response is, "Well, he's doing it, and she's doing it, so why shouldn't I?". People just don't want to hear it, and when you persist, you are just labeled as being one of those "Holier than Thou" type of people, and you just keep getting back the same type of response, such as "WHO CARES!". For what I can see, the responsibility DOES rest on the Manufacturer's shoulders.

What I think needs to happen is, the Manufacturers who continue to pursue this need to make examples of the people they go after. PUBLICIZE IT!!! To HELL with MEDIA SHIFTING!!! They (the Manufacturers) should focus on going after those who they are able to prove are using PIRATED MUSIC. SCREW the CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSE about not being allowed to discuss the cases after a settlement has been made for using PIRATED MUSIC. Those people DON'T DESERVE any sort of protection!!! Get the MEDIA INVOLVED!!! Have them BROADCAST on the LOCAL NEWS that it was PROVEN KJ X was using PIRATED MUSIC, and he has been successfully sued for that. If enough coverage is given to it, then MAYBE people will think twice about it.

exactly Cue.
as far as i can see nobody has had anything done because to them IT IS ALL KEPT PRIVATE AND HUSH HUSH.
SC) "we will make you pay like the others"
Pirate) "what others?"
SC) "can't tell you, but trust me there were others"
Pirate) "what did they pay?"
SC) "$5,000."
Pirate) "where is the court case?"
SC) "can't show you, but trust me it happened"
Pirate) "uh huh, sure."

Police) "speeding will get you fined like the others"
Racer) "what others?"
Police) "can't tell you, but trust me there were others"
Racer) "What was their fine?"
Police) "$1,000"
Racer) "where is the court case?"
Police) "can't show you, but trust me it happened."

think about how many speeders are on the road, now think how many there would be if there was no evidence of any penalties for speeding.
now look at it like this...
SC) "we will make you pay like the others"
Pirate) "what others?"
SC) "defdant a, b, c, d, e, f, g,..."
Pirate) "what did they pay?"
SC) "$5,000."
Pirate) "where is the court case?"
SC) "just hit google and see for yourself"
Pirate) "ummmmm......"

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

It is pointless. I had a few who told me they could get me whatever I wanted. You simply tell them you buy all your stuff because you support the industry and because it's right. They, in turn, look at you and shake their heads. You smile and move on.

Just a point of clarification:

The court cases are not "hush, hush." They are public record, and you can go look them up at any time.

The defendants and plaintiffs in a civil case certainly have the right to privacy if they settle out of court. I think the fact that we all know almost exactly how SC handles settlements means that isn't very "hush, hush" here either.

Sorry, I just hate the conspiracy tone. No one makes a defendant settle with SC. Can they structure it so it's a better option than fighting in court? Yes....but nothing wrong with that. These are CIVIL cases where the vast majority of the time the defendant's guilt is not even in question, it's more about how they are going to satisfy SC's well documented losses.

I hate defending SC, as I still don't like the way they function on the "investigative" side, but they are not somehow duping people in court. The court has no more favoritism for SC than they do for any given defendant. And if that defendant wants to fight the case instead of settle, they always have that option. If they win the case, they won't owe a dime. But they generally choose to settle because they are guilty of what they are being accused of!

Anyway, there's no conspiracy here. In the vast majority of the cases, the defendant was guilty and settled. In a small percentage of the cases, the defendant was innocent and the suit was dropped completely. In only 1-2 cases was there any court case to speak of where the guilt or innocence of the defendant was even questioned.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

Also in the matter of moving violations, the vast majority are dealt with without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom as many people just pay their fines.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I don't hear much about customers who have their own drives. I know they are out there, but I don't hear about them or about home karaoke parties.

My most frequent comment comes in this exchange -

Singer: Do you have/can you get SONG X?
Me: (after looking it up) Sorry. It does not officially exist as karaoke yet. But i will keep looking and notify you when it does.
Singer: But this other karaoke guy does. He just plays it off YouTube.

I have come to dislike the YouTube KJ's more than the hard drive KJ's. The karaoke companies don't have the manpower to comb through the videos and issue take downs. YouTube isn't doing it on their own because it provides ad revenue. Singers start to believe that ANYTHING is available just because it happens to be on YouTube.

That said......

I have turned a lot of singers on to http://iCroons.com and I feel like I am making a small dent in the singer population around buying music.

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-Chris

the issue is the only thing stated is that SC voluntarily dismissed them. no settlement, just dismissed. the only reason the word settlement is used is because says "they settled, believe me". all i and all the pirates see is that SC let them go. this way it's he said she said about the result.

1) "SC just let them go"
2) "no, they settled out of court"
1) "it doesn't say that"
2) "fine, prove they just let them go"
1) "can't, everything is sealed"
2) "then shut up if you have no proof"
1) "wheres your proof that this settlement happened"
2) "don't need proof, SC said it happened so no proof necessary, don't agree, then you're a pirate supporter"

and this is exactly how it happens every day on this board.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens