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Nice catch

-Chris

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-Chris

I couldn't help but notice that you quoted the entire post of the posting immediately preceeding your own.
Now my pets are all peeved.

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KNOW THYSELF

!!!

Greetings all..im new to the forum and im trying to get information and educate myself on the piracy lawsuits filed by WWD and PR. Reason for my inquire is im one of the named defendants in the new lawsuit filed in Knoxville.
Now with the lawsuit information being all over the media, internet, forums ive yet to be served and I doubt I was ever investigated for reasons:
1) I have NEVER/EVER used a Computer, HD, FD, SDcard, CDR etc
2) I have NEVER downloaded any songs - legal or illegal
3) I only buy and use Original Manu Discs at all shows
4) Im a single operator with ONE system - i use a single disc player
5) I work at places that pay PRO fees

Ive taken pride in the fact that ive done business the right way..I shopped for years at the local CB store long before any of this legal stuff started. I was always told "no problems as long as you use the original discs"..now here i am named in a lawsuit.
Ive paid the price to maintain a legal library..I know there are people in my area that are illegal and i agree they should be punished cause its just not right..but..if you are going to sue someone then do the right thing and investigate for real..if someone would have come to me I would have gladly sat down and shown them my disc library..but that didnt happen and now its time to fight. A shame really because the time and money you waste on me you could have stopped a real pirate.

Ruh roh, Raggy...
This could get interesting.

Don't worry about it, you probably have a very similar name to the one that they really planned on suing. Kind of like what happened to Rodney. We can't expect them to ALWAYS get it right can we? You'll be just fine after a few thousand dollars of lawyers fees.

You say you haven't been served yet the media has said you are being sued.

It may be you haven't been served because you haven't been sued.

It wouldn't be the first time the media has screwed something up.

If they have, demand the print a correction.

If you do get served, contact the other party and ask what's going on.

If things are as you say, then chances it will be dropped immediately.

It would not be the first time that someone has been inadvertently sued (and I just don't mean in karaoke).

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You can be strange but not a stranger

From the information I have seen on these Tennessee suits of WWD and PR they have learned nothing from the example set by SC. SC now to their credit file suits individually and not in mass as they used to. When you file mass suits it is like fishing for tuna with nets, you are going to get dolphins trapped in the net also. Being mammals the dolphins usually drown in the nets before they can be released. In much the same way the legal hosts that get trapped with the pirates suffer as far as their reputations and of course they lose gigs due to venues dropping them. In some cases this can be a death blow if the host is already struggling to maintain his or her business.

Where exactly did you see that you were named in this new lawsuit? Did it actually mention your name (or the business name you run under), and/or did it mention the name of the Venue where you host Karaoke? If it was the latter, are you the only KJ that does a show at that venue? You said that you have not officially been served. Has the venue where you host Karaoke been served?

Here is the entire complaint. Look at the exhibits beginning on page 20 that shows names, places, and songs observed. See if there is a similar comparison to your name.

http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wate/new ... wsuits.pdf

If so, and you are in fact disc based with nothing to hide, just contact the PR LLC's attorney either via your own attorney or personally to clear the matter up.

Here are PR LLC's counsel information from the lawsuit:

Michael E. Robinson, BPR #24681
Matthew M. Googe, BPR #30164
Michael J. Bradford, BPR #22689
Luedeka Neely Group, P.C.
P.O. Box 1871
1871 Riverview Tower
Knoxville, TN 37901
Phone: (865) 546-4305
Fax: (865) 523-4478
RRobinson@Luedeka.com
MGooge@Luedeka.com
MBradford@Luedeka.com
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF

Also be wary of rogue lawyers who may contact you who are out there chasing ambulances from Suite 1300!

If you are contacted by any lawyer unsolicited, don't give them any money!

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-- Mark

Insane, the only relevant names are those of the Defendants. Any other names in the Exhibits that are not Defendants may be called as witnesses but if they aren't under Defendants section, they are not being sued.

These are the only Defendants:

Ayala’s Mexican Restaurant, Inc
.;
BLUE
COAST BURRITO, INC.
;
R&M Klimas,
LLC
;
Toot’s Little Honkytonk;
PTO, Inc.
d/b/a
Paul’s Oasis
Sports Grille & Spirits
;
Blue Chips; Coyote Joe’s Liquor Bar &
Grill;
Asia Cafe, Inc.;
Jimmy’s
Southern
Pub
, LLC
; The Edge;
Jeff Duff d/b/a Knox
House of
Sound Mobile Entertainment
;
Matt McClure d/b/a
A.H.E. Entertainment;
DJ Marty Ray
;
David Moore d/b/a
Clowney Boy Karaoke;
Bullet
(a/k/a DJ
Bullet)
;
New York Style Entertainment
;
Darrel Wallace;
and
Jane Doe 1
,
Defendants

So unless Brewtus is one of them, he has nothing to worry about. If he is, then he just needs to contact their lawyer and show what he uses.

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You can be strange but not a stranger

I understand that Tim. What I was trying to convey is that Brewtus may have a similar name as a defendant. Since Brewtus hasn't been served, he/she could look at the exhibits to see if there was any correlation and could deduct if there was a mis-spelling or other anomaly.

_________________
-- Mark

Another press release on the latest lawsuit from PR LLC.

http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/th ... 272658.htm

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-- Mark

Hello again..let me clear a few things up. I am named (KJ) as a defendant and the venue I played at is named as a defendant. The venue got served today and according to the owner of the venue im on the list to be served asap.
My name is not close to any other KJs in the area so I dont think there is any confusion there..although..i am listed on the lawsuit as working at a venue in town ive never stepped foot in..that venue is NOT listed as a defendant.
The song in question on the lawsuit is a CB song on the 1st essentials set that I bought from Big Mamas Karaoke Cafe store (CB) back in 2003..in fact most CB OMD i have was bought full retail from their store over many years. Yes..i was a loyal customer.
A lil background..The venue named as a defendant was sued by SC in 2009. The owner had no clue at the time about copyright piracy. The owner paid the PRO fees and thought that covered everything. The KJ at the time was illegal and skipped as fast as he could. The owner did the right thing and worked out a settlement with SC. I was hired to host the karaoke because I do not use a computer and I use all original discs. As far as we knew we were legal.
Hopefully I will be able to get this cleared up before it gets to far..

If you in fact use discs, there shouldn't be any issues in clearing it up. But it puts into question PR investigative methods if they also named a OMD only user.

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You might get it cleared up but the information that you were sued will always be on the internet, and the information that is was dismissed will never be easily found. Most folks won't ever search to see if you were cleared.

That has always been a question not fully answered Lonnie, in all of this legal process business, just how are the investigations conducted and how through are they? Also if any reports are generated during the investigation process? It would seem that it is very difficult any time there has been an actual trial to produce the investigator or even the reports, for the plaintiffs. Making it very difficult for the plaintiffs to prove their case. That is why the majority of cases are settled before they go to trial, or simply dropped.

The question has been fully answered. You just don't like the answer.

I can't speak for PR in this specific case, but your question seems directed otherwise anyway. The investigations are thorough enough to produce a good-faith belief that infringement has occurred. That is all that is required.

Plaintiffs are not required to rely solely on their pre-suit investigation to prove their cases. Discovery is the process by which almost all trial evidence is developed--not just in karaoke cases, but in all civil cases. That is the purpose of discovery, and it is not improper in the slightest for a plaintiff to rely on the discovery process to identify and collect all of the evidence to be used at trial.

Investigative reports serve ONE purpose and ONE purpose only: to establish a good-faith belief that infringement has occurred. Contrary to the popular belief among certain non-lawyers, liability and damages are not limited to the specific songs for which infringement was directly observed. Defendants are answerable for ALL of the infringement they have committed within the applicable statute of limitations, whether they were observed or not. A plaintiff need not call the investigator to testify to prove a specific instance of infringement.

As for Brewtus, if what he says is true (and it may be, or may not), I am absolutely certain that the matter can be straightened out with a phone call to PR's attorneys. There will almost certainly be some verification required, but I know that PR is not interested in maintaining a suit against a person who operates using original discs.

I find this to be a ridiculous complaint. People get sued all the time, even when they did nothing (or very little) wrong. It is just not as big a deal as you're making it out to be.

Let's see, McDonald's, Ford, Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and many other businesses large and small have been successfully sued all over the world and are still doing business. As a matter of fact in most cases, civil or criminal, most people forget such things. As an example, how many murders have been committed in your (anyone) area? Now if there have been more than say five, and that's pushing it, what are the names of the perpetrators and even harder, the victims. Unless it is something like OJ, JFK or MLK, I doubt too many of you can answer the questions. In simpler terms, no one will remember or care.

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You can be strange but not a stranger