Karaoke Forums

No, I'm not referring to that at all.

What does SC Certification mean really??? I mean if you as any of the major publishers - here is the answer you will get:

"DJs are not permitted to burn a copy for professional use. Creating a copy (also known as reproduction) is a protected right under US copyright law. The law speaks to creating a copy for personal use (i.e. only the individual has access to it). There is no defacto right to creating a copy for professional use. And unless we grant professional use copies, that right is expressly reserved.

Jim - with your depth of experience and ongoing certification program, what is your position?

obviously SC can only grant rights that they specifically own so basically what that entails right now is the trademark only.

Their position is that when you create a copy of a soundchoice branded disc, that you commit TRADEMARK infringement. So what certification basically is is a convenant not to sue you for trademark infringement.

The publishers cannot come after you for copyright infringement of the music because they do not own the copyrights to the karaoke musical works, and there is no sync right for the public performance of a audiovisual work, so is covered for commercial use by either SOCAN in Canada or the 'big 3' in the US.

Most of the karaoke producers from overseas have stated that they don't care if you media shift their music, as long as you keep the original disc as proof, so you are covered there.

Stingray, the current copyright holder of the majority of the soundchoice catalog is extremely unlikely to come after you for media shifting. Especially since they can't prove damages if you own an original disc.


so there you have it, in a nutshell

-James

DJ's may not be able to make copies, but you'll be hard pressed to find one that hasn't (or downloaded EVRYTHING). They are the biggest offenders in regular music.

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This is a duplicate post - sorry I posted it in the other thread by accident...

This statement is false:  

Stingray (and other suppliers of karaoke content) may own 100% of the copyright of the master recordings, but they have no claim whatsoever to the underlying compositions!  The publishers own 100% of the compositions (the songs) - and they most certainly can and do sue for copyright infringement if the usage is not licensed!  

The “big 3” publishers only control about half of the songs in the catalogs of SC, Stingray, and other similar suppliers - and the rest of the song shares are controlled by hundreds of smaller publishers.  No one has any right to sell karaoke recordings of songs in (or into) the US without first securing licenses with ALL of the publishers owning shares of the songs.  

Karaoke syncronization licenses are required, and the societies like Harry Fox cannot license karaoke sync.  Those rights can only be licensed by the publishers themselves. Note that these licenses have nothing to do with public performance rights (ASCAP/BMI), which are also required, but much easier to obtain.  

Further, Copyright Law does NOT allow anyone to make a copy of a recorded composition (such as into a laptop) for professional use - it only allows a consumer to make 1 copy for personal use.  So whereas the great concern has been over not getting sued by SC for trademark infringement - the real concern should be over getting sued by publishers for copyright infringement.  

And the big question is:  Has Kurt Slep’s new company secured licenses with all the publishers for use of the songs that he is currently selling into the US?

first point. yes they own the copyright to the original composition, but that is NOT what you are copying you are copying the KARAOKE WORK created by the karaoke producer which is considered to be a brand new work and therfore afforded master rights as if it was a brand new song. The publishers are compansated for the original song when it is CREATED.

Second point. A sync license is required to CREATE a karaoke track, not PERFORM one. Those are different rights. If you don't believe me, then ask Mr. Harrington he's the lawyer and has already said the exact same thing

-James

...I do understand where you're coming from because of the many DJ's out there that do have everything ever made. However, I am one of those who is in the extreme minority. Every track I have ripped can be matched to a disc. Just like my karaoke tracks... It ain't easy competing with others but I do!

I said hard pressed, not impossible!!

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