Karaoke Forums

In the previous post I stated 1 million general aggregate on liability, and $50,000 in equipment coverage.

About $300 is for equipment and balance is for liability.

The main reason I have the coverage is that I do quite a bit of DJ work for weddings and many of the local Reception Halls and Venues now require proof of insurance prior to performing at an event at their venue. Many actually want a certificate of insurance that lists them as an additional insured, and it spells out the exact liability limits.

Again that is 100% replacement on the equipment + rental fee reimbursement if I have to rent while waiting for my replacement gear come in.

Anyway this is what I chose several years ago and have stuck with it.

Good luck in your search.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

14 years ago I didn't want to get liability insurance.     I didn't think I needed it.     Too much money for nothing.

I did a kids party.    This little girl comes running up all excited toward my table.    I had a cable stretched out to my projector.   It was taped to the floor, but she slipped on it and down she went.    Flat on her back and I think she hit her head.    She jumped up really fast so nobody would see her.    You know how embarrassing it is to fall in front of a bunch of people?      She brushed the whole thing off as if it never happened.     If she was hurt she didn't let on.
 

The next day I had liability insurance.  :O


and a shot gun...in case they are only wounded.  


Live and injured they can sue you...dead men tell no tales...

By the way Eric, you can purchase the equipment coverage and liability separate from each other to lower your overall cost.

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FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

You are looking at it wrong, weather you have the originals, or not, it is ILLEGAL to do a show via ripped songs on a computer from a disc.  Makes NO difference if you own the discs or downloed everrything from the www.

And pleas let's not turn this into a debate about copyright laws.

They never asked what use any of my stuff was for. They just asked what was stolen from my house, I gave them a list with the amount I paid for each item NEW, and they sent me a check for the full amount to buy it all back NEW. I made a claim for about $3100 and they sent me a check for $1900 ($1000 deductable), so they fully funded my claim minus about $200. They also sent me about 3-5 options of where to buy each item NEW for the price they appraised it at.

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C Mc
KJ, FL

twansenne,
I think doing ANY commercial venture even using discs is also illegal. (if you read the fine print) I personally believe that this will be the year that shift formatting will be allowed AS LONG as you own the originals.  Which lead up to my hypothetical question, in that once you have converted to digital format; that if you lost the originals but have "proof of purchase" then it could be justified for still being in business.

NO, I'm not going to argue anything.  Only discuss.

Where I was also going with this thought is the total "insurance" idea.  IF, the above was held to be true, I'm not sure that I would want to spend the insurance to insure the disc as long as 1. I kept the digital files safely backed up and 2. Kept proof of purchase for each of the files.


Kelly

Ah, but Kelly, I already responded to that, earlier in this thread in response to your hypothetical question.

I believe if you do not have the original disks, under any interpretation of the related laws, your show is no longer legal; whether run from backup cdg's or a hard drive.  

So, one should insure their entire system.  If only the hard drive disappears, you should be able to get compensated for the drive itself and your time in creating it, but compensation for your time would have to be expressly addressed in the policy.  

If you original disks are destroyed, lost or stolen, you should have them covered for replacement cost (which may be more than you actually paid for them).  You would have to, therefore, give the insurance company a complete list of what you own (updated) as you purchase more.  If they agree to cover the disks at replacement cost, they won't care what you paid or if you have the original receipts.

If you do not replace any destroyed, lost or stolen disks, and keep the proceeds from the insurance company, why should you be able to continue using a backup copy of that material or a copy that is in another format to continue doing your show?.  

Lastly, what would the manu's position be if you have a complete loss and have no insurance.  If you had only CDG's, a single copy of each (no backup on cd or hard drive) and your disks were lost, stolen or destroyed.  You'd be S-O-L, even if you had receipts for every CDG you ever purchased.  Wouldn't you?

I guess what I was leaning towards, it is my opinion that we will be eventually moving toward a time when as far as music, (CD or CDG) that what we will actually be purchasing, is the actual file itself. Regardless whether it is on disc or in digital "cyber space."

At least I hope so.  I have many discs that insurance wouldn't help at all as they are no longer being made.

And that brings me back to what I was getting at, that if it comes down to the actual file; as long as you were safely keeping your files backed up, there would be no need to insure your music.

Yes, it's going to be an interesting year.

Kelly

Kelly,

I'm thinking that you may have no need to insure your backup file, but the original copies must be!

Consider this....If something were to happen to your originals.    I would never tell the insurance company about the Hard Drive backup.    They may consider it a no pay out deal.    Technically they might say you didn't actually suffer a loss.     Never volunteer information to an insurance company.      Only answer the questions they ask.  :whistle:

BD, that may (or may not) be good advice when your making a claim.

It is definitely bad advice when your purchasing the coverage!

Why would they need to know you have made a (posibably illegal) back up?    What else illegal are you doing?    They will think that you intend on making a claim later.    If you have a backup, did you really lose anything?    Was there really a stack of discs?   In their eyes.   Don't forget they look for everything under the sun, to find a reason to not pay anyone, anything.

I would never tell the insurance company anything about back ups.

Several years ago I was in a wreck.   Technically my fault because the front on my vehicle hit the rear of another vehicle.

Cop shows up.  The lady is screaming and yelling it's my fault.  Yack, blab.

Cop looks at me and wants me to say it's my fault.      I'm standing there all hippie looking with hair to my shoulders, wearing an apple hat and mirrored sunglasses.

I told him I wasn't admitting anything.   Now he starts looking at my like I'm a smart a**.

I reached in my pocket and pulled out a card my insurance company sent to me.   It listed 3 things to do in case of an accident.

1.    Render assistance. Call police or ambulance.

2.    Exchange information.

3.    [highlight=crimson]NEVER[/highlight] admit fault.

I showed that to the cop and he said he was going to look at his card when he got home.

I don't care if you blatantly ran a red light.   Never admit it was your fault.   If you do you just screwed yourself big time.      There could be something about the other guy you don't know that would have made it his fault.   But since you said it was your fault, he gets off.   You get the blame.

NEVER tell an insurance company or anybody else, anything but what they ask.   Period.

BD,  you are simply agreeing with my statement that it may be a good idea to keep your mouth shut when there is an incident/claim.  That is quite different than when one speaks to an insurance agent about purchasing the RIGHT coverage.

If the risk is great enough, I want my PC covered, my drives covered and the work I put into building a Hard Drive of songs covered.  If they'll cover my "work" (and they probably won't) they're not going to raise the question of it being legal once I put in the claim.  They agreed to the coverage.

If they don't agree to cover my efforts in creating a library on a hard drive, it will have no bearing on any claim regarding the PC and related equipment, if the insurance company agreed to cover that equipment!  I would never expect them to cover the intrinsic value of a library that exists solely as a copy on a hard drive.  I don't think it is insurable or has any value.  Only the original disks have an insurable value!

First of all, they will cover the equipment.   I highly doubt that any company is going to cover your work, unless you show them it and document it and you can prove that you created it and it is unique.

Keep a copy of your hard drive at moms house or a friend or the bank.   But don't tell the insurance company about it.   If you have another copy safe in case of an accident, you lost nothing.    You will get paid for the equipment and the computer and any lost hard drive, but I don't think you will ever get paid for the songs or the time in coping them.   Especially if they investigate and talk to the disc manufacturers about your format shift.


Best say nothing.     Don't tell the insurance man anything he can pull out of his a** in the future.  


Cover your equipment and discs.   Not back up copies.

I did a wedding several years ago and played Paradise by the DBL to take a bathroom break - on the way back into the banquet hall I saw a guest go spinning out of control into my light tripod - knocked it over, busted a lamp and damaged my Mystic pretty badly.  Fortunately, he seemed to be okay.  More importantly, he didn't pull it out onto the dancefloor and injure others.  Things like this can and do happen.  The venues I'm familar with that require it have been sued in the past over injuries.   I would recommend getting liability insurance to anyone in the business.

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Sounds Great! Entertainment
Bartlett, Illinois

All you have to do is watch all of the funny video shows and see all the stupid things people do at weddings and parties.   It should convince you about the need for insurance.

My insurance is $170 a year for libility and $130 to cover equipment so for $300 a year I completly covered.

Mine is from wedj.com