Karaoke Forums

Cueball,
The last couple/few(? I lost track) lawsuits here in Florida (mostly defaults)have included enjoinments from using converted files from any manufacture without advance written permission. This has been a real biggie in the fight against track thieves here.

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

You're confusing "won lawsuits" with "successful settlements," which are two different things. People who aren't educated on law, of course they're going to settle with a large company that's going after them for a law they don't understand.

Fortunately for me, I know my rights. You can find that bad boy right here.

If I purchase discs, and there was no previous agreement that the discs I purchase were only licenses to use a product, then I'm protected under the DMCA.

NO Roche Coach...I am not confusing settlements with judges orders, pleas check Justia or RFC express or read the older threads.

As far as your "If I purchase discs, and there was no previous agreement that the discs I purchase were only licenses to use a product, then I'm protected under the DMCA." argument...why not give it a try. Dont comply with the rules, get sued, retain a specialized attorney and take it all the way. I think we would ALL like to see that...might be terribly costly though as SC is not suing on copyright law but trademark law so DMCA does not apply.

Good Luck
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

That still does not address what I said about SC having no authorization to check for files other than their own.




You are talking about a Default Judgement or Settlement between SC and the Defendant/s (KJs). As for those who have been enjoined from using media shifted files from other manufacturers without advanced permission, I haven't seen any evidence of that being enforced either. You have the e-mail correspondences that you can produce for a few of the brands you have media-shifted (that are not SC, CB, or PHM). Who's out there checking up on everyone to see if they have the same permission? And, of course, there's still the issue of all those brands out there where the company is no longer in business, and nobody knows who to contact for permission to media-shift those brands. If a KJ has settled with SC, and they agreed to this enjoinment clause, does that mean they can not media-shift a brand if there is no way to contact someone for permission to do so? And again, who's following up to enforce this?

Cueball,
The authorization to check for other files I think is included in the audit agreement.

As far as enforcement of these enjoined goes I can only speak about my little part of the world...SC ,ET AL are watching like a hawk just waiting to be able to contact the judges who wrote these orders with proof that someone has gone against the courts ruling. So far here no-one has been that uneducated. (I believe it would be a much higher judgment amount and contempt of court/ possibly jail time).

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

I have to say, i REALLY like your avatar. That face says it all. It's like "REALLY, are you THAT big of a fool??"

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I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Cueball,
I see you did edit your post to clarify I will try and answer the additional questions as best I can.

"If a KJ has settled with SC, and they agreed to this enjoinment clause, does that mean they can not media-shift a brand if there is no way to contact someone for permission to do so?"

Yes that is correct without written permission they CAN NOT convert those brands. (removing tracks from use by track thieves COMPLETELY)

"And again, who's following up to enforce this? "

this one has a two part answer depending on if it was a court judgment or a settlement agreement clause

(court judgement) The court holds jurisdiction and if/when someone enjoined violates (and proof is given to the court) the court enforces it...here in my little part of the world all the legit hosts know who has been enjoined and is on the look out....we are not going to stand by and let them take food off our tables again

(Settlement clause) From my understanding those who settle must agree to future audits...if it is found that they are not living up to the agreement ...then SC would sue them for the breech...again this is my understanding as it has been printed here and elsewhere and from seeing settlement agreements from those who signed them

If I missed any other questions let me know and I will try and answer...or get the answers

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

So Roache, exactly what section of that Act says that you can media shift for commercial use without permission?

As for what SC is producing or not producing (or any other company for that matter), is moot as it has nothing to do with what is going on. Are you saying if they, for the sake of argument, were putting out karaoke discs, then your opinion would change?

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

The perception of them would change if they were making music. CB is suing people but they are ALSO providing new music. They are still a karaoke company. They have also come up with innovations to make computer hosting quick and easy. What I think is the most ridiculous thing is how hard it will be for SC to catch up to all the other mfrs. They are only screwing themselves with this lawsuit quest.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Brian,

I can see what you are saying about some people perception of SC changing if they were putting out new product and hopefully they can return to doing so in the near future.

Please keep in mind that it was not CB that came up with the innovation for the Media Pro but Compuhost. CB agreed to licence their library to the Media-Pro (a stroke of genus in my mind) that is why the media pro is Compuhost dependent. When the media-pro first came out I was cautious to see if it would end up being a long lasting product....I am happy to say it looks like it will be The rumor mill has it that SC is working on something equally innovative....guess we will just have to wait and see

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

'tis Bobby, not Brian. I have stated that if SC were to do something like that I would look into it. Though, knowing them it would probably be exorbitantly expensive. I will tell you this, I would LOVE it if they did something like CB, and made it competitively priced.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

And how do all of you know who these people are? Didn't Mr. Harrington state that a "Confidentiality Agreement" is signed upon settlement? This is one of the things that I asked Mr. Harrington about... that a list should be made public of the KJs who had Judgements against them and settled. As you just stated, you know who the KJs are in your little part of the world (both legit and not legit). So, if you know a KJ who was sued, and you knew he/she/they/(it, as Mr. Harrington has referred) were not legit to begin with, and now they are back and still operating the same, you would be able to tell this, and make a phone call to "The Powers That Be," for them to follow suit with.

Cueball,

The settlements we dont know about (except in cases where the person who settled blabbed, surprising number of those)...however the court records are public record.

As far as what I would do if I had someone I "suspected" had settled (no proof such as works from their own mouth) and was IMHO going against what I thought was in a agreement? Email and report it to "the powers that be" for follow up. They may not be able to confirm or deny my suspicions but they can follow up.

This is another place our "little informal group" can help and keep the track thieves from taking food off our tables again.

I hope this made sense to you

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

sorry Bobby,
It will take a bit for me to get used to calling you by name
SC products usually are more pricey than even CB's so the cost is most likley going to be more IMHO they are worth it

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

It's a good thing you don't work in NY. They don't take kindly to "rats" there. Your "informal group" would find yourselves missing up there. .

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Better quality is worth a bit more, not substantially more. They are still just songs. That is like saying that because Dream Theater is a better band, talent-wise, than Iron Maiden, they should charge more for their music than Iron Maiden does.

_________________
I am the ONLY SANE 1 HERE

Bobby,

I would do the same thing if I lived in NY......my decisions have nothing to do with where I live. I haven't exactly made a bunch of friends by being as outspoken as I am on a lot of issues. I have faced LOTS of opposition for being as pro-active in educating hosts/venues/singers in my area. Even with the benefit of hindsight I would do it all again
But then again I do walk trough Central Park after dark by myself too

I would much rather have problems for doing something I believe in than hide and refuse to fight. Also one good thing about me is what you see is what you get.... No-one ever has to worry about me saying one thing and doing another

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

Good question. If they are (which I doubt due to a different structure) then they have a whole country of their own to play with. Why incur the expense of trying to sue here? Add to that, many of those companies offered downloads, so demanding 1:1 would not be an option.


If they AREN'T: Well, if they aren't doing it there, why would they do it here?

Keep in mind that most successful businesses actually have the managerial skills to realize that alienating your customer base is business suicide. This is why Digitrax will be using a cover company to do their dirty work.

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

They put out 2 8 song discs (not 12 and not 15 like the past) for Jan & Feb that they never sold on their own website as discs or customs like they normally would have (16 new songs total in the last 7 months. Nothing released in March & nothing for April except a couple of artist discs that re-hashed their library of those artists that already were available. They didn't put out anything in Oct, Nov or Dec of last year either. The 'newest' product besides the 'new' artist series releases were a best of set of 2011.

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

I think if SC does not ultimately go out of business, they will sell very little new material if they ever do make any. Just because of a soured attitude towards the company. Even from ones who have certified etc. especially if they haven't seen any improvement in their business from it.