Karaoke Forums

Why not delete this thread too karaokescene.com?

BTW, The PNW is next!

Our lawyer always says, "It's cheaper to get screwed in the whorehouse instead of the courthouse!" !

This is a long post. I don't claim to have any special knowledge regarding this suit or anyone involved with it.
I discussed this suit with some of my singers at my show tonight. I can make a few assumptions regarding the suit:

1. It's only Sound Choice (and Slep-Tone) as the plaintiff. No other organization listed. So this is presumably over Sound Choice files only.

Yes, we filed on our own behalf, but other members of the KIAA are doing investigations and may soon take action on their own behalf. We won’t comment on their activities so as not co compromise their activities.

2. It was filed in North Carolina's Western Federal District Court. Sound Choice is based in Charlotte, NC.

3. It appears that all of the defendants listed are based in and around Raleigh, NC.

No, we filed against defendants in Charlotte, Winston Salem and Raleigh area in our INITIAL filing. There will be more to come in NC as well as other states. Last Thursday (October 1) we filed against over 10 defendants in TN.

4. It appears to me that at least one of the defendants is completely ignorant of the suit at this point. It was filed Friday, Sept. 25; I can find no indication this defendant has heard anything about it. This KJ performed shows as usual Thursday and Friday, and was seen Friday afternoon purchasing new audio gear.

We file the suit, but we do not serve the defendants until we have contacted them in writing and given them the opportunity to either prove they have an original disc for every song on every system they have, or to accept a reasonable settlement offer. So, if they have not yet received our letter they will not be aware of the suit. If we cannot reach them (and hence they do not respond) then we serve the suit on them and the process server has much better information at their disposal to track them down than we do.

5. My discussion group is very interested in finding out the identities of John Doe No. 1 and John Doe No. 2. We have suspicions, partly based on the named defendants. We also suspect that the "John Doe" designations may have something to do with some KJ's using stage names.

If we cannot readily ascertain the complete information on the individual prior to filing we list them as John Doe, which is completely legal. When they are actually served with the suit, the process server (who is hired by the clerk of court and could be a contracted company or the Sheriff) has better ways to research details on the individual and find them.

6. One of my singers told me it was "common knowledge" in his circle that one defendant is part of a file-sharing and -selling group involving at least three other KJ's who are not named in the suit. (One of those alleged file-sharers personally offered to sell me a 40,000-song hard drive including "every Sound Choice song" for less than $400.)

I think we may be aware of this same “sharing group” and we were contacted by someone present during exactly such an exchange. We would be interested in learning more details about the other folks that you say that we missed. We might already have a case on them and just not listed them YET in our filings, or you might have new information.

7. Regardless of whom the two John Does are, this lawsuit has MISSED probably upwards of a dozen strongly-suspected pirates in the Raleigh area.

Well, for reasons we will not discuss we might or might not be aware of them and simply decided to leave them for a future filing. BUT, we hate to MISS anyone who deserves to be invited to the “pay-up party” - one of our primary goals is to create a level playing field among all the KJs, so that you will have less of a worry about being undercut by a pirate with a laptop with 120,000 illegal songs, willing to work for tips and beer.

8. I found it interesting that the Phoenix suit also listed venues as defendants. The Raleigh suit does not list venues. I don't know why this is, or what the significance is.

In Phoenix, there was a mix of single system operators, multi-system operators and bars which owned the systems. In our TN filing interestingly enough 10 out of 12 defendants are bar operated systems, while in NC all the defendants were mobile KJs. It is just coincidence, because we cannot explain why TN had a preponderance of bar owned systems.

9. We all want to know how Sound Choice obtained these names. Somebody from somewhere is looking into karaoke shows in the Raleigh area. I am not aware of any KIAA or Sound Choice investigations going on in the area. I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary at any of my shows.

Well Jerry, your show was investigated and since you were running all CDGs, you passed without question. Thanks for your continued support and purchase of our products. (PS. We don’t know who Jerry is, so he is not a “plant” here for us.) Yes, we are often given leads by other KJs in an area, so we welcome any help you can send us if we “missed” any.


Obviously, this suit could lead to a huge shake-up in the karaoke business in my area. It fascinates me, in the sense that I am watching a big train having a tremendous slow-motion wreck right in front of me.
I'm (slightly) concerned that it could hurt the overall karaoke business in the area, if venues get burned, or if real pirates are allowed to slip off the hook. On the other hand, if it does put pirates out of the picture, my business could pick up.
(For the record, my show is based on legit CD+Gs and LDs, no digital files and no CDRs. I have no association with KIAA or any other group, and my only association with Sound Choice is that I've bought a lot of their discs and I was in the Sound Choice Club thingie for a year.)

We do hope that it does shake up karaoke from top to bottom. The vast majority of KJs do not buy any products anymore, but get new music through a variety of ways that I am sure most of you know about – maybe even more so than we do. But it’s time to turn the tide, bring stability back to the market, get rid of hosts who would profit from stealing and then undercut and put other Legitimate KJs out of business with their low ball pricing, or make them pay and become legitimate. Further, when a KJ has 120,000 songs (that’s virtually every manufacturer’s entire catalog), the singers know that he has EVERYTHING and they quit buying discs to bring in to play. So manufacturers lose primary and secondary customers.

Wall he used to before being caught in the millstones once too often

my bad wall.....I guess I was remembering the other forum....Sorry

Interesting analogy.
SC is a whorehouse.... hmmm.....

I wonder why Kurt stopped posting here.

Looking back on this thread, here's probably one reason he stopped.

And like c. staley said, why not just ask him yourself?

I did & your name came up. So did c.

One possible reason: As "Insane KJ" he was banned, but as Wall Of Sound he can now resurrect his old posts under that screen name in hopes of continuing the threads.

There is no indication these were the same posters. Insane KJ was from a completely different area than WOS according too ALL IP logs from both.

Now Wall be honest, you and I both know he said the reason was idiots.... Oh never mind!

Lonnie,

That doesn't stop the those who are against "ANTI-PIRACY" from trying to get specific people banned!

There is no indication these were the same posters. Insane KJ was from a completely different area than WOS according too ALL IP logs from both.

Do you know how easy it is to fake IP addresses? One only need to download a little program such as Hide My IP. Nothing to it!

Lonnie,

That doesn't stop the those who are against "ANTI-PIRACY" from trying to get specific people banned!

Maybe so, but I seriously doubt that is what has happened here. Even the most clever would slip up at some point and forget to do so. Not the case here.
Speculation!!!