Karaoke Forums

Toqer only rears his ugly head when he see's a major shift in opinion.

Chris I do and I don't agree with you, and hopefully I can clarify this a bit.

I disagree that the sleeping giants should not have been awakened. For me, 12 years of doing this, making software, towing the straight and narrow line only to be (literally) punched in the face and finally, never being able to expand outside of 7b was a direct result of the piracy. I will toot my horn, I'm a great KJ, perhaps one of the greatest that ever lived, but unfortunately it's an industry that has deteriorated to a point where only the least law abiding see success.

I will agree though on sort of a side slant here however.

The majority of "law abiding KJ's" and many others didn't do what was best for KJ's. Instead of being a progressive force willing to come to partisanship, those that sided with the manu's placed themselves at odds with those of us that chose not too. They acted as if the manu's were gospel, and how dare us heathens even THINK TO QUESTION the manu's brilliance.

God damn do I declare.

We should have started a long time ago. At the very inception of PC based karaoke and file storage, the manu's should have thrown every bit of weight they could behind a congressman that could fix things. They should have been selling on Itunes, making apps, and owning it. Please don't tell me they couldn't have. Don't tell me they didn't have the money then to fix things. Instead of changing laws to everyone benefit, they tried to twist laws to pull even the innocent into court. There is NO NEED FOR THAT KIND OF COLLATERAL DAMAGE. Even there, they could always force someones hand by twisting a legal technicality... a.k.a. media shifting a trademark.

I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for saying all of this. I don't care. I barely post here anymore, because watching something I love so much, get destroyed by idiocracy and sycophancy is just too much to bear. I quit karaoke. I have not worked it in 2 years, and with what I'm getting paid at my current job, I see no need to go back. It should not be that way. It sucks that I have to feel this way. I am ashamed of feeling this way, but unfortunately there's nothing being done to change things.

So ya. (this isn't at you chris, or others feeling my sentiment) Keep bickering with us. Keep astroturfing and spreading FUD for the manu's. Keep funding and campaigning for the destruction of karaoke. I'm done arguing. I don't care what the manu, or their sheister lawyers have to say. You ruined it for me and everyone else. Go die in a fire, go to hell. Sick and tired of

Sue everybody, full speed ahead.. Watch out for the rocks.. Damn.. There goes the ship..

Athena, I don't see any practical way for KJs to "police themselves". Lots of KJs paid for their discs, reported what they knew about pirates, loaded hard drives whatever to the mfgrs. What more is there?

Everyone knows my thoughts regarding SC's part in waking the giants, as I was one of the very first to predict it. No need for me to roll into that again- posting for another reason:

Zoom and other mfrs. all have distribution networks within their own bailiwick. While the mfrs. won't ship here anymore, their retailers don't seem to have a problem with it. Got another disc yesterday.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

I don't have time to post here very often and it is interesting to get the different perspectives of people who regularly do. I tip my hat to a few of you, especially Athena who seems to have a good understanding of the intricacies of the rules and regs in this industry (regardless of how arcane and ridiculous as they may be).

I am relieved that I steered clear of Tricera after my email and conversations with Universal. Between the lines one could easily see that action was imminent against them, even though it is Sony taking this particular action. It also gives me confirmation that the road I am heading down to distribute in the US is the right one... The pavement has been a bit bumpy at times and the street signs confusing, but careful navigation is taking me to my destination and there are good times ahead... Wish I could say more - all in good time...

I have had no problems ordering 1 ifs from any of the UK Manus.... However te package deals offered by zoom on eBay and on the Zoom FB page will not ship to the USA. Recently they offered a 20 disc platinum artist package for 30 pounds including all taxes( around $50)... directly on the ad it stated clearly Will not ship to the US... the eBay offerings ship only to the UK also. Now it sure was easier when I could order 4 copies of each disc and only pay shipping once.... those days are gone however you can still buy 1 ofs

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"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

I have to disagree with you here. I have had more success, more quickly than I imagined. Maybe I am an anomaly, but I am still proof that you can do the right things, the right way and be rewarded for it.

I too took on a day job a few months ago. But I took it on as a new Plan B. Karaoke was Plan B for 3 years until I decided to make it Plan A. I could walk away from either one and pay all my bills and still be able to take a nice vacation every year. But I also want to retire when I am 55 (just over 6 years from now) so I am working pretty much 18 hours a day to make that happen.

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-Chris

I have ordered package deals directly from SunFly and they have shipped to me. The most recent one was about 2 months ago.

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-Chris

You fail to mention that all of that was one specific case involving some buddy of yours that could easily be traced to a clerical error in a complaint.

SC does its business in public, in its own name, from a location that is easily identified from public records. It puts it own name and logo on its products.

There is a big difference between properly identifying a company that operates openly in the marketplace and identifying a specific individual, who does not necessarily do business in his own name, who may or may not be truthful about his operations on his website, and who may be operating for his own account or as an employee of some other person or entity.



There's no double standard. Sony has included so much inaccurate information in its complaint--information that would easily be identified as inaccurate, if any investigation had been undertaken--that it is plain it did not bother to conduct even a rudimentary investigation. It accuses an entity known as "Global Music Services" of copyright infringement, based upon an old website that advertised Global's service (assistance in negotiating licenses with music publishers and sound recording owners for use of musical works), even though it knows that Global has done no business whatsoever for more than four years. The allegations it makes are in most cases based upon theories of copyright ownership and infringement that have never been upheld by any court.

Consider this: According to Sony, if you put up a website announcing that (a) there are lots of sound recordings that could be available for use in movies, television, and other uses, and (b) you can assist prospective licensees in negotiating licenses with the music publishers and sound recordings whose rights you want to use, you have committed copyright infringement even if you never have a customer and no one ever uses any copyrighted work as a result of your efforts.

That's ludicrous.

You HAVE to be joking in regard to an investigational complaint, right? (Still giggling...)

Karma?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

"Upon information and belief, Defendant JOHN PAVKOVICH performs regular karaoke shows in at least two venues in this State using his karaoke system."
he only owns one system, i built it myself and is owner of a bar. he does no other shows at any other bar an no investigator ever saw him doing so. this was a lie.

"Upon information and belief, Defendants MICHAEL MICHAELL and SUNSHINE operate at least two separate karaoke systems to produce karaoke shows at multiple venues in this State"
they only own one system (i help them upgrade it over time) and do no other shows simultaneously (as could not happen with one system) so no invesitgator ever saw them doing so. this is a lie.

i dont have the verbage but here is another
12-298 - Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation et al v. Granito et al
"Command Performance Karaoke & DJs, Defendant"
the owner (Jewels) i know personally and she is OMD....no investigator ever saw her play from a computer. this is a lie.

"Defendant DARCIE BLACKFORD , d/b/a “FULL MOON SESSION” was observed operating a karaoke system to produce a karaoke show at a venue in this State in which counterfeit copies of SLEP-TONE’s accompaniment tracks were being used"
she was being acused of doing shows at Red Onion....John Pavkovich's bar...
"Defendant RED ONION LOUNGE, LLC was observed operating, through an employee or contractor known as “JOHN PAVKOVICH ,” a karaoke system to produce a karaoke show at its establishment in which counterfeit copies of SLEP-TONE’s accompaniment tracks were being used." she has never hosted there...why would she? John has his own built in PA system and library. No investigator had ever seen her there. this is a lie.

it is not one person tha i know, it is several and every accusation against the people i know has been 100% lie.
i can not comment on any other cases, because these are the only ones i have FIRST HAND FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF. of the ones i have first hand knowledge of, 100% have been based on lies and no investigation at all. no clerical errors could put Michael Michaell at two shows with two rigs. no clerical errors could put John Pavkovich at a second show outside of his own bar with one system. no clerical erroe could put Darcy Blackford hosting a show at Red Onion Loungs. no clerical error could have given Command performance a computer to be playing OMD from.
one oops can be a clerical error, but 100% failure is not a clerical error.

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

Jim, how many times have you said you did not want to comment on cases because you did not do them yourself so had no real knowledge of what happened? I'm doing the same thing and think I deserve the same understanding.

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

As has been explained to you several times before, the person who prepared that complaint was working from a spreadsheet in which the various reports were compiled. Because of sloppy cutting-and-pasting, which is a clerical error, the complaint included some mistakes on technical details. I think you are also aware that this was a case handled by Mr. Brophy--and, note to Joe: As you know, he's a licensed private investigator. Slep-Tone was not involved in the investigation, filing, or initial prosecution of those cases

I'm not sure why you included the case number for the Granito case. That case was and is 100% solid.

My point, of course, is that when you are dealing with a large number of individuals, it can be difficult to get 100% of the information right. Sony didn't have that problem. It is dealing with a well known company that operates in the open, with publicly filed documents. Sony also has the benefit of discovery in the ongoing EMI case--Sony and EMI have common ownership and personnel--and still managed to get it wrong.

I'm not sure what you mean. You just posted a long comment about several individuals whom you claim to know. If that is declining to comment on cases, I'm left to wonder what agreeing to comment on them would look like.

because Command Performance is on that filing as well and they are all OMD, so no investigator ever saw them playing from a computer.



my wording was confusing, sorry. hindsight....let me restate it
you were after me about bringing up these same cases, but i only talk about those because they are the only ones i have first hand verifiable knowledge of. for me to talk about the other ones would be like you talking about the cases you were not part of and have no first hand knowledge of. you refrain from doing that and only speak of cases you are certain of what happened and have an expectation that we respect that (and we do), i was only expecting the same courtesy.

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

If you are talking about the person you indicated above, DJ Jewels, you are not right about that. I did that investigation personally. I believe I have evidence that unequivocally shows her playing from a laptop, but I haven't checked it. I have a very distinct memory of conducting that investigation, and I made a point of talking with her that evening, in full view of her laptop, which she was running from a restaurant booth with no discs in sight. Same thing when my process server went back to serve her some time later. On top of that, the guy she was working for has admitted that his operators all used his computer-based equipment.

Perhaps you don't know these people as well as you think?

The guy she was working for? Anette owns command performance.

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

Caught out again, Jim.

As for waking the giants, SC, and ONLY SC, trod on ground where they shouldn't have. They sued in regard to a trademark display that -worthless as it is, would have even less value ( if you can undercut zero) without being attached to the publishers' property, which they exploited. They trespassed, made a big noise about it, and awoke the giants, who claim that they have not been properly compensated. ( I say "claimed". While this is probably true, the publushers are not exactly known as the last bastions of virtue either.) Not Athena, not Digitrax, SOUND CHOICE. THEY are the ones that P.O.ed the publishers by overstepping themselves and suing over something that would be of zero value unless attaçhed to the PUBLISHERS' property.

Please note that no other karaoke production company ( PR is not and never was) was stupid enough to try this. That is because more intelligent heads realized that it HAD to come back for an a$$ bite.

As previously stated, Kurt can come up with decent ideas, but manages to screw up the implementation every time. Whether it be copyright protection (MediaCloq) lawsuits ( too much to list, and Jim may have helped come up with the IP trolling plan) , subcontractor oversight ( APS and co.) or licensing, all of which - at least in my region - have turned his own label into manure and label non grata. The man truly needs a skilled business mgr.

However, I think that the Sony suit - with all the resources behind it - may put an end to a lot of SC junk, and may well force Kurt to make ownership adjustments in regard to the GEMs, making "licensees" the new owners to protect SC.

Unfortunately, it will be too late for us hosts - Which SC, being out of the business for years - could care less about.

My advice is to grab as much music on mfr. disc while you can and where you can. A dry spell is in the offing- once again, thanks to SC. You heard it here in the beginning, and re-iterated now.

Or feel free to ignore. You mileage may vary.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

Command Performance was not sued in the Granito case. There was a DJ Jewels in that case, but her name is not Annette.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCOURTS-azd-4_12-cv-00298/USCOURTS-azd-4_12-cv-00298-1
Richard Bergschneider, Defendant
Stephen M Brown, Defendant
Kent B Campbell, Defendant
Command Performance Karaoke & DJs, Defendant
DJ BenJammin, Defendant
DJ Cowboy, Defendant
DJ Jewels, Defendant
DJ Julianna, Defendant
DJ Richard B, Defendant
DJ Silver, Defendant
DJ Soup, Defendant
DJ Tiff, Defendant
DJ Tigger, Defendant
David R Fuller, Defendant
Gary Anthony Granito, Defendant
Alejandro Gutierrez Jr., Defendant
Julie Ann Holodynski, Defendant
John D Hurbon, Defendant
Jamie P Jackson, Defendant
Jamie J-DJ, Defendant
Benjiman Knauer, Defendant
Tiffany McDaniel, Defendant
Keith E Powell, Defendant
Rex, Defendant
Sharon D Silver, Defendant
Tony G, Defendant
Tony G DJ LLC, Defendant
Brandon Turner, Defendant
Unknown Parties, Defendant
Piracy Recovery LLC, Plaintiff
Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation, Plaintiff

believe it or not, i am not trying to be nasty, but you said you were very sure about this case as you investigated it yourself, and you saw what you saw.
Command Performance was not sued on the Granito....incorrect
suing DJ Jewels....correct, it was a late night, she is not part of it. sorry, my mistake on that.
spoke to the guy she works for....incorrect, a guy is not her boss.
her name is not annette....correct...annette is the boss and owner of Command Performance. Annette looks nothing like a guy.

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