Karaoke Forums

PURPOSE OF AGREEMENT. The purpose of this Agreement is to state the terms under which we permit
you to acquire and use MP3G format karaoke tracks from the Sound Choice® GEM Series. This is a license
agreement, not a contract for sale. Legal ownership of the physical discs will remain with Sound Choice, and
the Agreement will permit you to have physical possession and use of the discs and their contents, with
restrictions, for a specific period of time. You are responsible for adhering to the terms of this Agreement
during the entire time you have possession of the media. A breach of your obligations may result in legal
action against you.

As such, it is feasible (though I suspect highly unlikely) that Sound Choice could revoke the license at any time and for any reason. If you own the original media you are not subject to such a restriction.

The down side to the GEM series is that it is actually a revocable license.

From Paragraph 4 of the "LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR SOUND CHOICE® GEM SERIES MP3G KARAOKE TRACKS"

<SNIP>

As such, it is feasible (though I suspect highly unlikely) that Sound Choice could revoke the license at any time and for any reason. If you own the original media you are not subject to such a restriction.

This is one reason why I have not bought into the GEM series (yet) and prefer to buy physical Sound Choice discs.

I've explained elsewhere on this board within the last week that "likelihood of confusion" does not necessarily mean "actual confusion" or what we would think of as confusion in normal everyday use of the word.

When that mark is displayed, it signals to the public that SC made the thing being displayed (or authorized it to be made). But in your example, SC did not make the file that's being played. The KJ did. If SC doesn't have the ability to permit (or refuse to permit) that, then the power of the trademark to signify the source of goods is lessened, and SC's right--codified in 15 U.S.C. § 1115(a)--to the exclusive use of the mark and to control how it is used is called into question.



1. Because SC needs to be able to control the commercial use of its trademarks.
2. By itself, media-shifting doesn't result in direct monetary losses. But SC has spent a lot of time and money building a product that is very, very good, if not the very best in the industry. Because trademarks are used to differentiate between similar products, trademarks are often said to be a symbol of business goodwill, which is a valuable asset. If the SC marks can be used outside of SC's control, the value of goodwill associated with the marks goes down, because the purchasing public cannot trust that the SC marks mean quality under the control of SC. Even if the KJ is scrupulous in not lessening the quality of the product, it is still outside SC's control when he makes his copies.

Aside from the economic damage (lessening of the value of business goodwill), the Trademark Act also provides for injunctive relief. In many trademark disputes, particularly those that do not involve counterfeiting, the courts do not award money damages at all, but simply order the junior user to stop using the mark.



Well, yes, in two ways. One is if you don't use SC. The other is if you confine your use of SC to the GEM series only, and you are a GEM series licensee. Licensees under the GEM program do not need to be "certified" because the GEM program is self-certifying; the media-shifting authorization is built into your purchase of the license.

If you are running using SC content you have media-shifted from CDGs, you need to be certified by SC to be 100% legal.

Yet, SC would stop the law suit if I can prove I have a 1:1 corresponding disk for all the tracks on my hard drive. That doesn't change the trademark fact though. And again, everything is about copyright, not trademark in the end.

Which is perfectly cool...but you will pay 3X the price as well.

You must be the person that walks into the car dealership and agrees to pay sticker price.
I know how to deal and haggle. EVERYTHING is negotiable.

...OK. Keep track of your costs and let me know when you get all 6000 GEM songs. Then we will compare.

...OK. Keep track of your costs and let me know when you get all 6000 GEM songs. Then we will compare.

Keep track of your costs and let me know when all 6000 of those songs get played more than once each. I imagine there are many, many tracks in that 6000 that will never be heard.

-Chris

In my opinion, getting certified means the host has taken the extra step to contact the manufacturers and demonstrate compliance. In return they get some extra marketing power to show to venues and patrons that they are in it for the long haul and they are worth the investment.

Bird: Have every one of the songs you own been sung more than once?

Yet, for the customer it doesn't make a difference. Authorized or not authorized.

We ALL have songs that will rarely/never be sung unless you have never bought a full disc or set in your career.

how does this differ from playing a scratched disc through a low quality system? SC has no control over the quality of the track at that point.