KIAA Membership

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by bryant

I see, but piracy being an offense of the law, can only be stopped by a law enforcer, e.g., police, etc, etc., not by someone who wants to collect money and inspect discs. Doesn't make any sense.

Like i said, it was an obvious hoax/scam, call it what you wish.

Not exactly true.
Piracy is theft of property and as such is subject to civil as well as criminal proceedings and the burden of proof is a lot less for civil than criminal.

Even if theres not enough evidence to be criminally prosecuted you can still be be civilly liable

Even if you are found innocent of criminal wrongdoing a civil court can still take everything you have to satisfy someone elses loss. Just ask O.J.

The KIAA is to karaoke manufacturers and their other members, what the RIAA is to the music industry. The RIAA has been fairly succesful in their civil cases against pirates.

Sam

[Musicman51]

I'm with billyo on his outlook at making a buck with karaoke. If i had to relie on karaoke for a living, i'd starve to death. I consider it an expensive hobby. If i make a buck or two to help offset my expenses so be it. If i don't, so be it. I do a few freebies, like retirement homes, jail ministry, and youth groups. Also for a special kids dance once in awhile. I am making about the same amount of money as any KJ up around here. I have been at the same american legion club going on 6 years now. Started out at 175.00 a night, i'm up to 200.00 a night, twice a month. Figure in all my new CDG's, and my two chartbuster monthly subscriptions, my new cargo trailer to haul my gear, lighting, new laptop, hoster, rack gear, cables, mics etc.... well you do the math. Where i make a buck are my extra gigs. Weddings, yard parties, graduations, biker gigs, pool parties etc. But it's something to do to get me out of the house and active. Incidently, i'm not sure about the rest of you guys. But i always git double pay on new years eve. If you don't, you should be. Merry Christmas

[bryant]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

I'm with billyo on his outlook at making a buck with karaoke. If I had to relie on karaoke for a living, i'd starve to death. I consider it an expensive hobby. If I make a buck or two to help offset my expenses so be it. If i don't, so be it. I do a few freebies, like retirement homes, jail ministry, and youth groups. Also for a special kids dance once in awhile. I am making about the same amount of money as any KJ up around here. I have been at the same american legion club going on 6 years now. Started out at 175.00 a night, i'm up to 200.00 a night, twice a month. Figure in all my new CDG's, and my two chartbuster monthly subscriptions, my new cargo trailer to haul my gear, lighting, new laptop, hoster, rack gear, cables, mics etc.... well you do the math. Where i make a buck are my extra gigs. Weddings, yard parties, graduations, biker gigs, pool parties etc. But it's something to do to get me out of the house and active. Incidently, i'm not sure about the rest of you guys. But i always git double pay on new years eve. If you don't, you should be. Merry Christmas

Not bad $200 bucks for an American Legion hall in an economically depressed area. I think even in Portland , ME (the least depressed area in Maine) the best DJ/KJ's are lucky to see $175 at any type of club. My wife's been doing the VFW for 7 years at $160, while others in this area range from 75 - 125 at any type of club.

New Years Eve (there's a post/poll on that here somewhere). We usually get around triple (everyone makes money then). I've been asked to play in three places this year. Had to refuse because work at regular place every year, and one of the other places asked "Well, can you next year?" and offered $50 more than the going place now. I told him I'd check and see if they book me next year (now with ammunition to ask for a slight increase).

[bryant]

Originally Posted by mindonstrike

Not exactly true.
Piracy is theft of property and as such is subject to civil as well as criminal proceedings and the burden of proof is a lot less for civil than criminal.

Even if theres not enough evidence to be criminally prosecuted you can still be be civilly liable

Even if you are found innocent of criminal wrongdoing a civil court can still take everything you have to satisfy someone elses loss. Just ask O.J.

The KIAA is to karaoke manufacturers and their other members, what the RIAA is to the music industry. The RIAA has been fairly succesful in their civil cases against pirates.

Sam

I see, and that is true. I guess I meant "stopped" as being enforced, such as an officer of the law would legally enforce the law, being civil or otherwise.

[muzicman144]

Originally Posted by mindonstrike

The KIAA is to karaoke manufacturers and their other members, what the RIAA is to the music industry. The RIAA has been fairly succesful in their civil cases against pirates.

Sam

Sam, I not so sure these type of organizations are the answer to the problem. Seems to this ole boy that with BMI, ASCAP, SEESAC, RIAA, KIAA and others trying to get their finger in pie of royalties, there just isn't much left for the artist. For once, I, personally, would like to see a breakdown of the money trail. I think it would really surprise you how little the writer/artist actually gets from their actions. I have never seen these figures posted anywhere, anytime. Go Figure.
I have always wondered why the writer/artist community hasn't gotten together and only allow one company to pursue this avenue, where they can control the cost, disperse the money fairly.
I see the RIAA, KIAA as basically pirates of a different color as no one authorized them to pursue the money trail. You or I can do the same thing, get the same results. Look at Eric Godrey of Arizona and his US Karaoke Alliance. He is self annointed prez, founder, and controls the dispersment of fund as he sees fit, and pays bar/club's BMI/ASCAP fees if they join his alliance in his effort to control Karaoke in the Phoenix, Ariz. area. Does anyone think this type of "enforcement" in every area of this country is what we, as entertainers/business' need?
The music/karaoke industry will only suffer more with all these companies attempting to "combat piracy". If one paid fees to all these companies to be deemed "legal" you can't afford to be in the business.
I remember a poll in this forum where the question was "are you completely 100% legal", meaning you didn't even have one illegal file. Most of you were completely honest, and most of you said you were in the High 90%, with only a few claiming 100%. I believe this is the norm for most KJ's.
Sorry for being so long winded. My comments are my humble opinion only.
muzicman144

[ddouglass]

Bryant and Sam I think as far as enforcement you guys are mixing terms up.
Piracy is counterfeiting of an item (in this case song files or discs) and is a gainst the law and would be a criminal offence.
Copyright and trademark enfringement which is using the counterfeit items is not a criminal offence and thus has to be persued by the owner in civil court. No cases have been taken to court by the KIAA directly. The Arizona cases have been filed by Stellar and Sound Choice (the owners).

[bryant]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Bryant and Sam I think as far as enforcement you guys are mixing terms up.
Piracy is counterfeiting of an item (in this case song files or discs) and is a gainst the law and would be a criminal offence.
Copyright and trademark enfringement which is using the counterfeit items is not a criminal offence and thus has to be persued by the owner in civil court. No cases have been taken to court by the KIAA directly. The Arizona cases have been filed by Stellar and Sound Choice (the owners).

ahh, gotcha, thanx.

[RandyMcCharles]

I occasionally drop by Sound Choice's custom track site (www.mykaraokecdg.com.au) to see where they are going after closing it a few weeks back. Today I saw they are reselling SBI's Abraxa tracks instead of their own. (I don't think they have the proper downloadable catalog, however, as it doesn't match what the search brings up.) They look to be charging the same prices as they used to for Sound Choice tracks, so you can get the same Abraxa tracks as well as tracks from several other manufacturers for much less at SBI's own site (www.sbikaraoke.com) or (www.selectatrack.com).

[RIKKI TIKKI]

Try Chartbuster's custom cdg program also... pricewise, newer selections, and time of delivery is why I have recently switched from SoundChoice... and yes they ( SoundChoice ) either sub-contracted their custom cdg operation out, or something else ( Licencing Rights ) maybe caused them to back off... ???

[RandyMcCharles]

I haven't orderee custom CDGs from either yet. I've just been watching the industry change, escpecially Sound Choice as they have good tracks but haven't been producing much new material for a while. I did order from Select-A-Track (a year ago) as they had tracks I wanted unavailable anywhere else. The quality was good.