Karaoke Forums

The lack of receipts will not cause you to fail an audit.

The availability of receipts can be important for a post-suit audit because we may need to determine whether you bought the disc before or after our investigation. But for a voluntary audit, the receipts are not critical.

Call me paranoid but this part of the CNS makes it difficult to just blow it off.

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

OK!

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

Lone Wolf I actually have 2 simalar units with CD+G adapters sitting in storage so I would know what it was personally. I would reccomend you purchase faster less glitchy repairable players AND get pro-active audits as soon as possible.....SHAMELESS PLUG WARNING...if anybody really wants one of these things in working condition for a small stationary unit PM me...I'm sure we can work something out......(warning they are very slow and can ansd do snap discs in half if jarred during carrosel(sp?) action)

Blessings
Athena

_________________
"Integrity is choosing your thoughts, words and actions based on your principles and values rather than for your personal gain."
Unknown
"if a man has integrity, nothing else matters, If a man has no integrity, nothing else matters."
Lee McGuffey

If he's going to be using a CDG player why would you recommend an audit as soon as possible?

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

because the discs are not visible to the audience. if he is not putting each disc in a tray as needed, with the discs out in the open, there is no way to tell wether it is a computer running the music, or if the discs are burns, etc. it's unfortunate, but the "sue them all and sort it later" mentality makes the audit a necessity for everyone, disc based included.

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

The garbage man rang my bell today and asked me to prove that I Legally purchased my "Round Choice" garbage cans. If I couldn't prove ownership; they would no longer pick up my garbage any longer. I asked the guy his name and he told me that it was James Barrington. ;c)

Since I couldn't find any receipts; I was told that I would have to buy a "Round Choice" garbage can certificartion for a measly six thousand dollars if I wanted to have my garbage removed. The good news is that it will only cost me $50 to renew my certificate eacj and every year.

I decided to go to Home Depot today to buy some new "Square Deal" garbage cans. I had the receipts laminated so I can prove ownership in the future.

Sounds like you made a Sound Choice!!!!

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

The interesting part is that there are some communities where if you don't used the approved trash can, they will not pick up your trash AND you can even get fined.

In my community, there is a broad range of cans I can use but others I cannot.

Fortunately there are no trashcan pirates in my area because of proactive enforcement of discarded proporty rights....

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

1) Probably the first example that comes to mind is music publishers. Music publishers are vendors. They sell compact discs and downloads to people who use their products, like, for example, bars and restaurants. And they do send out their enforcement agents--ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC to inspect their customers to determine whether they are adhering to the scope of what has been paid for. Like SC and PR, these inspections are often carried out unannounced and under cover.

2) Wireless telephone companies often do business through company-owned stores, especially in medium-sized and large cities. But in smaller towns, they often do business through "authorized resellers." These companies purchase products from the wireless company, making the wireless company a "vendor." The relationship isn't a franchise, for various reasons, but the reseller is allowed to use the wireless company's trademark, with restrictions. The wireless company will inspect the reseller from time to time to make certain that the reseller is adhering to the rules for use of the trademark--for example, by using the phrase "authorized retailer" after the wireless company name, and to make sure that the reseller's personnel are properly trained and focused on selling the wireless company's products.

3) Car rental companies usually own the high-volume operations at airports, but when you rent a car "in-town," it's often from a separate company that may or may not be a franchisee. The agency owns the cars it rents, and it may or may not buy them from or through the name-brand company. Regardless, however, the name-brand company will inspect the operation from time to time to make sure its name is not being misused and its standards are being upheld.

When you operate a commercial business, part of the basis of which is the use of others' intellectual property, you will have to spend some time--and sometimes money--managing your relationship with the owners of the intellectual property you use. The fact that some companies do not care enough about their marks and reputation to police them, or that some companies do not operate in the U.S. and therefore have little incentive to focus on their U.S. rights, does not mean that it is wrong for companies that have and care about a valuable brand to take steps to police its use.

Speaking of car rentals, let's say you owned a car rental agency that rented Fords, Kias, and Mitsubishis. And let's say you owned a factory where you could make cars if you liked. Ford will be happy to sell you fleet cars all day long, and they will not care that you rent them out--in fact, they want you to do that. And suppose a Ford rep was driving by one of your lots one day and noticed that some of the Fords were painted colors that didn't quite look like factory paint. Now, it's possible of course that you had them painted. But suppose Ford's sales had been cut down severely by people who were making copies of their cars, badges included. Do you think Ford would be satisfied with your excuse, if you said, "Hey, for every copy I have on my lot, I have an original in storage. I only do that because the renters tend to mess up the originals, so if they mess up a copy, I just junk that one and make a new one."

I doubt Ford would like that arrangement at all, but at a minimum, don't you think Ford would want to come in and inspect your setup, to make sure you were truly 1:1, and to set up some rules to enforce that policy?

But if someone buys a custom kit car and builds that kit on a Ford chassis with a Chevy motor; I don't think that Ford or GM will be looking to file a law suit against some do it your self shade tree mechanic because he has a hobby that might turn a profit once in a while. If FORD told the guy to remove the Ford Badge from the finished vehicle; that would be understandable. In that same vein; I can't see why a KJ couldn't simply just remove the Sound Choice Badges from his karaoke library and be done with the harrassment.

Yes, but generally you know which trashcan you can use BEFORE you spend thousands of dollars on one.

_________________
Birdofsong

If you remove the logos and the lyric sweeps, in which SC claims trade dress rights, then, sure.

Damn, it's too bad I am not THAT tech savvy. I could use a program to change the .cdg files to CHANGE the sweeps and the remove the logos, and all would be well. I need to research that.



Disclaimer: I am kidding, please don't get your panties in a bunch.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

So you're saying that you could legally take the audio from a Sound Choice song, use CDG authoring software to add your own synchronized lyrics, create an mp3+g song track, and use it for public performance?

I may be mistaken, but ....No.

The underlying audio work is still copyrighted by Sound Choice (or whatever arrangement they have with the studio musicians they hired to do the cover).

Of course now it becomes a little harder to prove without some additional forensic analysis of the audio portion, but it would be provable that it is Sound Choice's work just the same.

-Chris

_________________
-Chris

Why on earth would you say that?

_________________
My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

LOL... I was wondering the same thing. There are some people who are pretty adept at creating CDG song tracks. All they need is a quality backing track.

I only meant that if he wanted to be rid of the trademark and unfair competition suits, he would have to do both. When I read "harassment," I figured he was referring to what we were doing now, not all possible things we could ever do.

It would, of course, still be a copyright infringement, and while it would be harder for us to prove, it would not be difficult in the absolute sense. We already have the technical capacity to conduct a waveform analysis to confirm that it's our recording. One of the great things about having a really high quality standard is that it makes re-creation nearly impossible without incurring the same costs we did. The question is, would it be one that is owned by Stingray, or by SC?