Karaoke Forums

Lately some of the large hardrive users in my area have been going for Sunfly.
Is that considered a (safe) brand ?

As long as the American music publishers don't start doing anything, I'll continue to use them along with SBI, Zoom, Karaoke Version, etc!

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Do you mean safe to purchase?
Of course it's safe to purchase.
Perhaps you meant safe to sing to?
Sunfly used to be less safe (not to be confused with Dangerous - which can be safe for their genre) to sing to, but in the last few years they have become more reliable and are about as safe as any other brand.
Did you mean safe to pirate?
Well, everything is safe to pirate until you are caught.

To sum up:
Sunfly is safe to purchase.
Sunfly is safe to sing.
But if anyone is opting to pirate Sunfly, they're not making a sound choice.

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This goes back to Jim Harrington's point that "all material is free as long as you are willing to assume the risk".

Well stated comments.By (safe) I am wondering if that brand has any plans to get into the frey like chartbuster and sound choice.
It seems like some operators think not.

Sunfly is a UK label and as such is not currently licensed for commercial use in this country, if that is not correct someone please say something. You can still purchase discs and downloads for home use I think. The PR licensing that follows UK products is not recognized in this country or Canada, you should be good anywhere else in the world. If you purchased your Sunfly product before the restrictions were put in place and have proof you should be good to use the product commercially at least that's the way I understand the situation. If this is not right then again someone correct me. Since Sunfly is currently barred from the commercial karaoke market in the U.S. I don't think they will be using the legal process methods of either SC or PR.

I remember a few years ago a singer who was proud of her home hard drive parties (she "wasn't stealing as she wouldn't have gotten the songs if she'd had to pay for them) was berating SC and telling me that "Everyone is switching to SF now." So guess the pirates thought they were safe with that.

But I'm wondering what will happen now that US manu/distributors like the Karaoke Cloud are licensing Sunfly songs for the US. I guess if Pirate Recovery was suing on behalf of DTE then their licensing of some of the Sunfly library might be a worry to the pirates now???

If a person is a legit operator than SF might be safer to use when bought from a US company than if imported just in case the publishers do get into the act. If a person is a pirate I'm betting that eventually no brand will be "safe" to use.

DTE has already stated that the ONLY copyright they can enforce if DTE and Charbuster. They sell SF among others, but can't enforce their copyrights. AS for Sunfly, much of their newer stuff is pretty good. SBI is good, and I have been finding more and more Zoom that is REALLY good. You will find that Lonnie, Chris and I agree that until an authority tells us otherwise we will continue to use the UK brands. Just do us all a favor and don't steal them, ok? There is enough trouble with a couple of American karaoke brands, we don't need the UK brands going after KJs.

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ALL legitimate brands are safe to BUY.
ALL legitimate brands are safe to USE according to their policies.

-Chris

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-Chris

None of that is correct with the exception of this part:

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Now you mean that foreign imports are not barred from the U.S. and that they can be used commercially here? That is not what I have seen on this forum. That there has been an effort to limit foreign imports of karaoke materials not in compliance with U.S. copyright law that doesn't recognize UK licensing. Also I have seen hosts state that if material was purchased before the new restrictions were placed into effect, they could be used commercially. That is what we are talking about here commercial use not home use, which from what I understand is still ok. If none of this is true then are UK brands like Sunfly cleared for commercial use in the U.S.? I would like an agreement on this if possible. Seems like different hosts are coming up with different answers. Also there is little chance that SunFly at anytime soon will be using the legal system to sue U.S. hosts.

How do you define legitimate Chris?

The "rules" as I understand them are that they cannot sell directly to US customers. The content itself is not illegal to use. If it gets here by some other circuitous route then I am free to use it. This is probably why we are seeing so much Sunfly and Zoom content popping up on eBay now.

-Chris

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-Chris

Zoom's site just posted on Facebook that for financial reasons they will no longer be selling Sunfly. It seems only 20% of their business is sunfly sales, so they feel it's not worth it to carry them anymore.

Karaoke Cloud sells Sunfly, so you can get them from there if you are worried, Dave.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

This is what I mean:


This statement is wrong and misleading.
You could say the same thing about USA labels because karaoke producers don't license for commercial use, they license with the copyright holders for the creation and distribution of the karaoke product.
Is this country (USA) licensing for commercial use is granted by the performance-rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI, SEASC).


The licensing doesn't "follow" the product. There is no law in the USA that prohibits it's citizens from purchasing karaoke products from the UK. PR licensing in the UK for creation and distribution omits distribution licensing to the USA but does not prohibit the licensee from obtaining that right elsewhere. It is the UK producer that bears the responsibility to get proper licensing for their distribution channels - not the USA consumer.


Again, commercial use has nothing to do with when or where you purchased the product. Your permission to use the product in your show is acquired through ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.


Absolutely false. No karaoke brand from anywhere is barred from USA markets.

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So if you can devise some way to get them into the country you can use the product.

So the publishers would be the ultimate authority if the foreign product can be used. They are the ones granting permission and the PR licensing of the UK has no weight here. As long as the proper fees are being paid there is no reason not to use the foreign product commercially. If no karaoke brand from anywhere is barred from USA markets, then why aren't they openly sold here? Why do they have to be bought overseas and brought in?

Dave, bottom line, do not worry about it. Just go ahead and use Sunfly until the cows come home, until your chickens come home to roost, until the stars fall from the sky, until the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Your "devising a way" sounds underhanded and nefarious. It is as simple as going to eBay, Amazon, or number of other online retailers.

They simply can't sell direct.

Please tell me that when you retire from hosting you also will retire from posting.

-Chris

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-Chris

No karaoke brand is barred from USA markets because there is nothing stopping a manufacturer from licensing their product for USA distribution.
They are openly sold here.
The Gem series is an example of a UK produced product being openly sold in the USA and it's far from the only one. Sunfly products also have been and still are openly sold in the USA.


Because they originated overseas and if they were not brought in they would still be overseas and not here.

Most of what you are hearing and repeating about UK products and UK licensing is either not true or half true. Consider your sources, what they are selling, and why.

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