Karaoke Forums

Scenario: Oh, I just bought a harddrive from a guy who promised to give me discs also, BUT he never did. I go to Soundchoice, get "certified" by buying (or leasing) the Gem Series, buy the Chartbuster harddrive, and get the Cap from Stellar. So, I WAS by ALL definitions a PIRATE, but bought the latest products from the big 3, NOW, I'm not only considered legal, but have covenants not to be sued, all the top songs from these manus, plus the 100,000 karaoke songs, AND the 30,000 or 60,000 dj songs depending on where you bought the harddrive. So, where is the drawback to doing just this? You buy STOLEN goods, then pay "protection" money to get the LEGAL CERTIFICATION from the manus. No need to be 1:1, no worry about media shifting or being sued. Isn't this priceless...... JMO...

Srnitynow

In my area they're doing basically that except there not paying any protection money.

These aren't your $50-$100 beer money pirates either. They're hauling in $175 - $250 for regular gig and $250+ for private party.

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

You would not have a "LEGAL CERTIFICATION" for any material that you do not have on original discs. When you purchase a GEM license, you don't get to keep the material you don't have discs for--and having that kind of material is grounds for voiding your GEM license, without refund.

With the exception of the materials on the drive that are covered by the Stellar CAP, the rest of the material is not actually usable and should be deleted. So you just dropped from 100,000 usable karaoke tracks to 10,000 - 20,000 depending on how much of the Stellar CAP library they pirated for the drive.

-Chris

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-Chris

Providing that the KJ disclosed he/she even had the pirated material.



Is SC even verifying that their GEM lessee's aren't using additional SC material without the proper permissions?

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

Yes to the is SC checking lessees. My Main library of 800 SC cd's was certified separately for the secondary library with the GEM and 50 or so other SC disks and those splits are on file with SC.

Ed I understand that if you tell them you have 800 SC cd's that they'll want you to go through the audit process in order to have permission from them in order to shift them for use in a commercial show.

My question (and maybe I could have phrased it better) was in regards to GEM's lessees who aren't certified to use other SC material, but may be using it in their show.

This would make them a "technical infringer" if they owned the corresponding SC discs and a pirate if they didn't. As far as being a GEM lessee I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that if they are a "technical infringer" that is in violation of their lease and could cause a breach of the agreement and result in termination of the lease.

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My statements, opinions and conclusions are based on my own personal experiences, observations, research and/or just my own $.02. I'm not a "cheerleader", but that doesn't make me a Pirate.

I guess the drawback in your scenario is that you have just spent $14,000 in an effort to "legitimitize" your hard drive. The question is if you were prepared to spend that much and are cool with spending that much, then why would you have thought you were going to get all of that on a $400 harddrive in the first place? And if you paid more than that for the drive expecting to have discs as well, then why would you accept delivery of the drive without the discs? Although, $400 is not a bad price to pay to avoid the ripping process if you can live with very low quality rips.

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KNOW THYSELF

I personally think a guy would be crazy to pay 14,000 to legitimize a 400.00 harddrive, UNLESS, he decided to corner the market in his area, and multi rigged with the SAME library, and had a "free pass" from the manus. So, he pays the 14,000, shows the certification to all the venues, tells them how the other kj could get them sued, takes over their gig, and moves on to the next.... I know SC and others are supposed to check up on the "certified" kjs, but in my way of thinking, if you give a crook a "license" to be a crook, do you actually think THAT'S going to make him suddenly turn legit. I'm not even talking about the guy who bought an illegal harddrive, and could really care less, but the guy who got CAUGHT red handed, and made a deal, kind of like a "plea bargain". So, until they check up on him, this guy has it made. IDK, just food for thought, I guess.....

Srnitynow

I know of ONE person that tried to pull a stunt like that....needless to say they were caught and no longer run karaoke

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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

So, are you saying that if the KJ didn't own the original discs for All Hits, Pioneer, JVC, Pocket Songs, Priddis, Tip Top, etc... (fill in ANY other name brand here EXCEPT for SC), and that KJ purchased the GEM License, AND continued using the brands I just mentioned without owning the discs for them, that that would be grounds for voiding his/her GEM license?... or is that just specific to SC material???

So if you received the blessings from SC, for instance, for Foundations 1 & 2 discs, then you do not have to adhere to the same terms as you agree to by renting the GEM series? Is that correct?

"Although, $400 is not a bad price to pay to avoid the ripping process if you can live with very low quality rips."

I know, I only wish they could rip @ 320K, I would be ready to spend a little extra I don't really need the disk if they were all ripped properly in the first place

Delete, double post...

Not my quote....

Srnitynow

It's just specific to SC material.

It's just specific to SC material.

Jim, posting at almost 2 AM? Are you sure that you're not hosting on the side?

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

" Disc based and loving it..."

HeHeHe Harrington with all your extra time you wanna pick up a show or two?

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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