For Hosts

Karaoke Piracy Information

Karaoke piracy is a big problem, and it's killing the karaoke industry. Even though karaoke is more popular than ever, karaoke producers like Chartbuster Karaoke see fewer and fewer legitimate sales as karaoke hosts use illegal pirated music to put on their shows. When a karaoke host plays tracks from a hard drive without buying legal product to back up his files, that host is stealing from us.

No business can survive if 90% of its potential customers steal the product instead of buy it. To fight back, Chartbuster Karaoke has begun suing karaoke hosts and venues for infringement of our intellectual property rights. We don't want to sue, but we are out of other options.

If you're operating illegally it is in your best interests to become compliant with the law. If you do, we will work with you to provide a set of products with a volume discount and possibly even some financing.

Running a Compliant Show

Chartbuster Karaoke sells its karaoke accompaniment tracks on CD+Gs or licenses MP3G data discs. If you are going to use Chartbuster Karaoke tracks for any commercial purpose, you must acquire those tracks on an original disc manufactured by Chartbuster Karaoke.

If you use pirated material (any content that was not PURCHASED from an authorized reseller of Chartbuster Karaoke CDGs or found on LICENSED MP3G discs) for a commercial purpose, you are committing infringement of Chartbuster Karaoke's intellectual property rights. For purposes of clarification and to eliminate any doubts, Chartbuster Karaoke has NEVER authorized ANYONE to distribute our content on a hard drive or Super CDG disc or CAVS system.

    * If you acquired your Chartbuster Karaoke® tracks via downloading, you may not use those tracks for any commercial purpose. Further, MOST sites offering Chartbuster Karaoke® tracks are illegal sites and obtaining tracks from these sites, whether purchased or obtained free means you have acquired pirated tracks. If you have any questions as to which sites are legal sites for PERSONAL home use, you should contact Chartbuster Karaoke.
    * If you acquired your Chartbuster Karaoke® tracks by buying or otherwise acquiring a hard drive-based system (such as an external hard drive, a laptop, a desktop, a CAVS system, or another similar dedicated karaoke music player), with the tracks pre-loaded, you have acquired pirated tracks.

Verified Compliance SAFE HARBOR Program (VCSH)

The VCSH program is designed for Venues only, not for Karaoke Hosts. However there are benefits to you if you cooperate and participate by helping you:

• keep your gigs
• defend your pricing
• to have a way of reporting karaoke pirates that are destroying the industry

Your venue has given you this brochure because they have an interest in joining the VCSH program. When they join then they will be protected from a Chartbuster Karaoke suit for intellectual property infringement.

Your Responsibilities

Enclosed is a simple 2-page form which you should fill out. You may also do this online at www.scsafeharbor.com. We know this program won’t make us popular with karaoke hosts who are operating illegally – but that’s ok. We’re interested in customers who will buy our products and in helping legal hosts get more value for their services, so they can continue buying our products and we can continue to produce them.

It is in your best interests to cooperate, because venues are being encouraged to hire only the hosts who do cooperate and demonstrate that they are legal. Although it is 100% voluntary on your part, failure to comply puts your venue at risk and increases the likelihood that you might be named in a lawsuit.

The Surest Way To Be Legal

Legal operation starts by acquiring an original Chartbuster Karaoke® CD+G or MP3G data disc for every track you intend to play at a show. You can buy legal CD+Gs from Chartbuster Karaoke's online store or from the many authorized retailers. MP3G discs are ONLY available directly from Chartbuster Karaoke. You can also find some original CD+Gs for sale in the secondary market, such as through Craigslist and eBay. When buying CD+Gs in the secondary market, beware: There are many unscrupulous sellers in the marketplace. Be sure that you are getting original CDGs. Chartbuster Karaoke's CDGs are pressed and printed, just like CDs of regular music you would buy in a store. If your CDG is not original, it is not legal.

Running Karaoke on Computer, CAVS, or Other Hard Drive Systems

If you don't want to play from CDs, we understand. A large collection of CDs takes up a lot of space. Bringing your CDs to a venue exposes them to theft and loss. CDs can get scratched from too much handling. If you choose the convenience of a hard drive system, we understand the technical reasons for doing so. But, let's be clear: For legal reasons, Chartbuster Karaoke does not authorize the use of hard drive systems to play our karaoke music commercially. But we will agree not to sue you for "media-shifting" the contents of our CD+Gs or MP3G discs if you follow our media-shifting policy.

The complete format/media shift policy with Chartbuster Karaoke is that in the absence of written permission to perform a media/format shift from CDG to a hard drive based system, you are subject to investigation and notification of infringement (whether by letter of intent to sue or by a notice of a suit being filed or by being served in a lawsuit). However, IF you can prove that you have all the original legal discs in your possession prior to AND at the time of the investigation and continuing through the audit, then you will be dropped from whatever legal action is being contemplated or taken.

If you intend to format or media shift the song tracks from a CDG to a hard drive system (a lap top computer, for example), we will issue you a “Covenant Not to Sue” document for making the shift (and creating a new copy), which requires that you do not use the discs, but keep them in your possession and that you have a 1:1 relationship between the songs files on your computer and the songs on the original discs. (In other words, you can’t create a new copy and then sell the original discs and you can’t have any music on your computer for which you did not buy and still own an original disc). We also will try to arrange audits IN ADVANCE of any actions by Chartbuster Karaoke for those that want to prove compliance and legitimacy without having to be prompted or investigated as the motivation.

If you have any track on your hard drive for which you do not own an original disc, that track must be deleted from your hard drive. It does not matter if you once owned the disc, but subsequently lost it, sold it or had it stolen. The track must be deleted.

Examples of One-To-One

Let's say you have two hard drive systems, each with the same content. In that case, for each track you have, you need two disc tracks, one for each hard drive. That means you need to own two original copies of the disc.

If you have one hard drive system and one CD-only system, the same rules apply. If you put the contents of your discs onto the hard drive system, you have to put your discs "on the shelf." You cannot use those discs to also play a show using your disc based system.

If you have even one track on a hard drive that does not meet this policy, all of your media-shifting activities are unauthorized, and you could be sued.

After looking at this policy, if you think you're not legal, please contact us to discuss a special program we have in place to help karaoke hosts get legal. We have discounts and payment plans available on large quantities of discs; unfortunately, if you acquired an illegal hard drive, many of the songs are no longer available since the discs are out-of-print and you will have to delete them from your system. And it's better for you to contact us first, because we have investigators visiting karaoke shows virtually every night of the year in an ever expanding number of cities. If we contact you first, it will be more expensive to resolve this problem.




Frequently Asked Questions - Hosts

What is a Karaoke host?
For the purposes of this program, a "karaoke host" is a person or company who uses its own karaoke equipment to put on a commercial karaoke show. The terms "KJ," "karaoke jockey," "karaoke operator," and "DJ" all mean the same thing as "karaoke host."

What does "for commercial purposes" mean?
A "commercial purpose" means that the karaoke host is being paid, or the purpose of the karaoke show is to attract paying customers for another enterprise, or the karaoke show is being used as (or as part of) a fundraiser.

What do you mean, I might be sued?
Karaoke hosts who use pirated material are committing infringement of Chartbuster Karaoke's intellectual property rights. Chartbuster Karaoke has spent millions of dollars creating the accompaniment tracks that karaoke hosts use. When a host uses our material without paying for it, that host may be violating the law. There are three possible ways that you may be violating the law: copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. Chartbuster Karaoke has the right to protect its intellectual property by going to court.

What are the penalties?
For copyright infringement, a court can impose damages of up to $150,000 per infringing song. For trademark infringement, the court can impose damages of up to $2 million per mark infringed. There are no set damages for unfair competition--the court will decide how much damage Chartbuster Karaoke has suffered and make an appropriate award. Regardless of which type of action Chartbuster Karaoke brings, the actual award depends on a number of factors.

I only use original Chartbuster Karaoke discs to put on my shows. Am I compliant?
If you are playing directly from original Chartbuster Karaoke discs, you are compliant, from Chartbuster Karaoke's perspective.

I'm using a CAVS system (or another kind of dedicated karaoke machine) with Chartbuster Karaoke tracks on it.
If you purchased your dedicated karaoke machine preloaded with Chartbuster Karaoke tracks, and you did not also receive a set of original Chartbuster Karaoke discs that cover those tracks, your system is non-compliant. Please contact us immediately to discuss a resolution to your problem.

I'm using a laptop, a desktop/tower, an iPod, or an external hard drive to run my shows.
Please see our Staying Legal page at www.scsafeharbor.com for a description of our media-shifting policy, to determine whether your system is running legally.

I have one disc for every song on my hard drives, but I'm running two (or more) hard drives.
That is a violation of our media-shifting policy. You must have a disc for each hard drive you have in operation. Please contact us to discuss a resolution to your problem.

But I bought my system from someone I thought was a reputable dealer and paid thousands of dollars for it.
We are aware that there are some dealers who sell hard drives or CAVS systems, preloaded with Chartbuster Karaoke tracks, and claim that all of the music is licensed. Don't be fooled: Chartbuster Karaoke has never licensed anyone to sell preloaded hard drives. Those systems are illegal. You may have a lawsuit against the dealer. We will help you become compliant and give you some tips for getting your money back from the dealer. We are also working through law enforcement and through civil actions in the courts to put these pirates out of business.

I downloaded Chartbuster Karaoke tracks through iTunes or eMusic. That's legal, right?
Tracks downloaded from iTunes, eMusic, and other similar sites are not licensed by the music publishers for commercial purposes. They are there to serve the home use market only. You are not authorized to use those tracks for any commercial purposes. Check the Terms of Service on those websites for more information.

I bought my hard drive preloaded with 80,000 songs for $400 from a guy on Craigslist.
Sorry, but that system isn't legal. Think about it for a minute. That's about half a cent per song, not counting the cost of the hard drive itself. Do you really think the "guy on Craigslist" is paying anything to Chartbuster Karaoke? At that price, you'd be lucky that the hard drive wasn't stolen to begin with.

I used to buy all my music on CDs, but my illegal competitors have driven my pay down by 75%. I just can't afford it.
We understand. One of the big reasons we are suing the pirates is to help legal operators compete on a level playing field. But that understanding only goes so far. If you're running illegally, we have programs to get you legal and stay that way. If you contact us before we contact you, it will be easier and cheaper to get legal.

I heard that you sold all your music a couple of years ago and don't have rights anymore.
It is true that Chartbuster Karaoke sold its song catalogue to another company. But Chartbuster Karaoke did not sell its trademarks (the other company rebranded the music under another trademark). Also, Chartbuster Karaoke licensed the catalogue back from the other company to make CD+Gs. Plus, Chartbuster Karaoke has continued to make music, and it owns that newer music outright. So we do have rights, and we're working to protect them.

Isn't this all about making more money?
Chartbuster Karaoke spent a lot of money creating those accompaniment tracks and paying for the right to do so. We make money by selling CDs to karaoke hosts and enthusiasts. If karaoke hosts steal our music instead of buying CDs, we can't make a return on our investment, and we can't make more music for your patrons to enjoy. So it is about money. But it's also about fairness and honesty.

What is the Verified Compliance Safe Harbor Program?
VCSH is a program that allows karaoke venues to provide us with information about the hosts that they hire, in exchange for immunity from being sued by Chartbuster Karaoke for infringement. The venue will ask you to fill out a form with information about your system, which we will then review and, if appropriate, investigate.

Why should I give my information to the venue, or to you for that matter?
Your participation in this program is 100% voluntary. If you don't want to provide your information to the venue (or to us), you don't have to. But the venue is 100% within its rights not to hire you, if you don't cooperate. Legal hosts won't mind filling out a 2-page form that helps us verify their compliance. It can be an important step in protecting their own business from unfair competition.

How will you use the information I give you?
We will use the information you provide us to verify that you are operating legally--or, if not, to help you get legal and square with our policies. We may also use that information against you in a lawsuit, if that becomes necessary. We may also use your information to notify you about developments in the karaoke industry that you might be interested in, or, with your permission, to tell you about karaoke products you might want to buy.

I play at a lot of venues, and all of them want me to fill out this form. Is there a shortcut?
Yes. Whether you play one registered venue or many, you only have to fill out the form one time. The first time you register with us, we will assign you an account number. Just give that number and your contact information to each venue, and they can send that to us instead of a fresh form. Of course, if your information changes, you should update it, either with a new form or online.

Can I sign up before any venues ask me to?
Absolutely. In fact, we recommend it. That way, you can tell your venue that you've signed up with our program and that they should, too, to take advantage of the safe harbor. However you should also expect them to verify that you have enrolled with us.

How do I sign up?
You can sign up in one of two ways. The easiest way is through our Registration Page found at www.scsafeharbor.com. Just answer a series of questions about your operations, read a few disclosures and representations, sign, and you're done. If you'd rather sign up on paper, use the enclosed form to fax, e-mail, or mail us.

Does signing up guarantee I won't get sued?
No. The safe harbor applies to non-owner venues, not to hosts.

What happens after I sign up?
Your information will be reviewed by a member of our anti-piracy team. We may ask you for additional information. We may also determine that your system is not being run legally. In that situation, we will contact you and ask you to work with us to get legal. We have programs to help you get legal.

How much does this program cost?
The program is 100% free to venues and karaoke hosts at this time.

I want to do more to fight karaoke piracy. What can I do?
If you're running a legal system, you should consider joining the Karaoke Industry Alliance of America (KIAA). More information is available on the KIAA Website (www.thekiaa.org)

For questions about getting compliant:

    * call Chartbuster Karaoke at (800) 347-5504.

Explain that you are a Karaoke host who is looking to get legal. Don't worry, as long as you are making an honest and determined effort to pay for your content legally, you will not be joined in a lawsuit. We even offer substantial discounts and offer financing. But you must be honest in the number of shows and systems you are running, or else you will not be adequately covered.

Host Safe Harbor Registration Form