READ THIS

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology...3691170&page=1

They now have established a legal precedent.

George: The downloaded karaoke files we have been discussing are not from peer to peer sharing sites.
They are from manufacturers and distribution companies that sell a variety of karaoke equipment and discs.

By the way, did anyone else know that Sound Choice sells karaoke files online as mpegs instead of mp3+g?
Seems like an odd decision to me.

Mpeg as in video files or mpeg+G (which is mp3+g)? Are they downloadable or sold on custom disc?
Those distribution companies still have to be licensed to do so by the producers and should be able to confirm that to you. Sound Choice could do it, because they are the producers of the karaoke songs.
What the article George is referencing is a legal precedence for the karaoke producers to go after the KJs who are sharing their files with other KJs to increase their listings. It actually would be great in my opinion if they would. Then the rest of us could earn a decent fee for our services.

Right on, Dale...peer to peer is just plain old illegal file swapping, no matter what label you hang on it.

George and ddouglas: I agree with you both.

The comment I made was that the article (and subject, ie illegal file sharing) is outside of the scope of this thread (except to point out to the original post the type of sites or methods that are NOT safe).
I assume he already knew that and was the basis for his question in the first place.

Kind of like the difference between buying a car from someone who is not "licensed" in your state to sell the car, versus stealing a car.

Although the salesman may be selling the car for another party (the owner), and pays the owner the agreed upon amount from the buyer (me), and the proper transfer of title is completed...if it is later determined the salesman was not legally licensed to perform that duty, he will suffer the fines imposed by the courts for doing so.

For the prosecutor to come after me, the buyer, and require the vehicle to be relinguished or even impose fines for making the purchase seems a bit of a stretch.

Now, if I steal a car, or accept a stolen car from someone else, I deserve the full penalty of the law.

Big difference in my small mind. :s

Then again, I could be way off base. I only play an attorney on tv. :g

Suggest you read the third paragraph. That was my first search to confirm what we mostly all feel is the case. I don't think California is unique regarding this policy. I saw no point in wasting any more time on it.

http://www.ocregister.com/features/d...01029cci.shtml

Stolen goods can be confiscated from an unsuspecting buyer.

I was within the topic of this thread when I stated there was no legal way to download files from the internet, (thinking in terms of material that would be used for public performances) because the kj wouldn't have the original discs in their possession, and advised TOPHAND to stick to buying discs, Everything since has been related to that statement, which has been confirmed

We're just travelling in a circle..bye.

It's for their DoPi karaoke system - the ability to load the karaoke to a video iPoD.

Online Downloads
 

Despite one's efforts to be completely legal, if someone stole your disc collection or it went up in smoke in a fire, or just lost, you become instantly illegal, unless one kept all receipts, which is unlikely for most of us, now i know a few will say i keep all receipts, but for most of us, after 5-10 years, we don't have them. What's the possibility of enforcement saying, "oh yeah, We believe everything you say".
Just a thought
muzicman144:c :c :c :c

How about old 45's and 33's. If we own them, are we permitted to own an mp3 of those songs as backups?

Was always curious about this one?

Receipts only prove that you owned them at one time, it won't prove that you didn't sell them off right after you imported them. The only thing receipts might prove is the value of the claim your making to the insurance company or maybe that the disks the police recovered from the meth addicts next door belong to you.

Don't know about that one, but I have put all my LP's on cd's not only for back up but for less physical handling and cd flexibility. I don't see a problem with an individual doing that for private use.

I try to keep all receipts from the day I started buying karaoke discs, however I get many discs through customers that bring in their own that they are bored with & sell to me & have no records for probably about 100 or so privately sold discs to me - so there would be no way to prove I owned/had those.

Hey All,
Just a few thoughts on the current topic.
Over here in the UK, there are lots of companies selling licensed karaoke download tracks.
All sell well known ones i.e Chartbuster, Sunfly, Zoom etc.
These are licensed in the same way as Performing Rights licenses are granted
and a percentage of all money made go (I assume) to the owners of the material.
All venues here must have a music and performing rights license also.
So they are supposedly legal.
Anyway very few KJ's here use CDG discs anymore, and the ones who do are considered dinosaurs. I have noticed that they all seem to have longer arms than the laptop kings.
We don't seem to be stuck with the same sort of legislation you have over there, perhaps we're slacker, more tolerant or just can't be bothered, which is really surprising as we have a raft of pretty stupid laws anyway.
This use of laptops and computerised music must lend itself to piracy yet there doesn't seem to be any checks on it.
The thing about downloads is you can, if one wished, download them from anywhere in the world as well as peer to peer sites.
Regards from across the pond.
Garry.

To be fair I emailed Tricerasoft about this issue. Here is a copy of the email:

Re:
From: TriceraSoft Support (support@tricerasoft.com)
Sent:
Fri 11/02/07 12:55 AM

To:
Jim Hall (madjimhall@hotmail.com)

Karaoke Monthly and Forever Hits are USA suppliers, Zoom and Music Factory are UK suppliers, but our licensing is world wide and backed by each manufacturers.



Jim Hall wrote:

<STYLE>.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass EC_body.hmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;}</STYLE>I do not own and establishment. Do the "performance" rights I'm purchasing cover use in the United States?

Thank You

Jim Hall

<HR id=EC_EC_stopSpelling>Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2007 16:24:48 -0400

From: support@tricerasoft.com

To: madjimhall@hotmail.com

Subject: Re:

Jim,

When you purchase the track you are purchasing it for "performance" (just like a CD+G disc) to entertain, we carry over the royalty to both the manufacturer and the copyright agency for the right to use the track. Performance means you get to use it to present or perform to others. This is however not related to your establishment, which should be subscribed to ASCAP/BMI or similar (this does not relate to you). You CAN NOT resell these songs - these are for your use, not for resale and only licensed for performance.

Support

Jim Hall wrote:

<STYLE>.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass EC_body.hmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;}</STYLE>Hello,

I have been buying Karaoke tracks from your company and using them in the United States to entertain in bars. When I buy a Karaoke track from your company am I buying the right to make money with it in the United States?

Thank You

Jim Hall

------------------------------------------------------------

Jim :g