CBK Safe Harbor for Venues

About Karaoke Piracy

Send an e-mail to piracy@chartbusterkaraoke.com (Best method), or Call the Chartbuster Karaoke Enforcement Hotline at (800) 347-5504 and ask for Extension 524, or Report it online at illegalkaraoke.com.

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 CDs, that host is stealing from us. IF you hire a host who is a thief and allow them to operate under your roof and you have any sort of financial benefit, you can be sued for vicarious or contributory infringement according to U.S. copyright and trademark laws. These laws spell out significant financial penal- ties for entities found liable for infringement, and in the case of copyright infringement, there can be criminal penalties as well.

No business can survive if 90% of its potential customers steal the product instead of buying it. To fight back, Chartbuster Ka- raoke 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.

Help us keep you out of court This Verified Compliance Safe Harbor (VCSH) Program is for venues that hire a Karaoke Host who supplies his or her own system to put on a karaoke show on the venue’s premises.

It is designed to give karaoke venues the ability to avoid being sued by Chartbuster Karaoke in the event that the venue’s karaoke host uses pirated material to put on a show.

A karaoke venue is any location where a karaoke show is put on for a commercial purpose. If a karaoke host is being compensated in any form (whether in cash, beer, or otherwise) or the purpose is to provide entertainment alongside other paid activities, it is considered to be “commercial.”

If you own or run a venue, we want you to keep karaoke entertainment going. We just want you to do it legally. As the owner or manager of a business, it is your responsibility to know and understand all the laws that might affect that business and to remain within the law. In the area of playing any form of music, you must abide by the federal laws regarding Intellectual Property rights (copyright and trademark) or you could be held liable for direct or vicarious liability. There is a reason why the pirates can offer to host a show for you with 50,000+ songs for less than $100 a night—they have no investment in music, because it’s all pirated. But hiring them to play pirated music could end up costing you tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and damages. So we’re providing you with this free program that helps you stay out of court with minimal effort on your part, while helping us target the pirates.

This program is a “safe harbor.” If you take the few steps we ask of you, we will guarantee you that Chartbuster Karaoke will not sue you for infringement of its intellectual property rights.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a karaoke venue?

A “karaoke venue” is a physical location where karaoke is played for commercial purposes. Typical karaoke venues include bars, restaurants, service clubs and halls (like American Legion or VFW posts, Chamber of Commerce halls, Shrine temples, or Knights of Columbus, to a name a few), wedding chapels, dance halls, nightclubs, and the like. Street fairs, community events, and block parties can also be karaoke venues, if there is a commercial purpose. A “commercial purpose” means that the karaoke host is being paid, or the purpose of the kara- oke 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 operators that 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 operators use. When a host uses our material without paying for it, that host may be violating the law. If you own or run a venue and you hire a host who infringes our rights, you may also be held liable for the host’s activities. It’s called “vicarious liability,” and it applies if you knew or should have known about the infringement, you had the right to control the activity (such as by allowing or refusing the host access to your venue), and you benefited from it.

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. Of course, the actual award depends on a number of factors.

But my karaoke host is an independent contractor.

As far as the law is concerned, that usually doesn’t matter, as long as you knew or should have known about the infringement, you had the right to control the activity, and you benefitted from it.

All the karaoke hosts tell me they are legal. What are some clues that they are not being honest?

For a Karaoke Host to have legally acquired Karaoke songs, they would have had to purchase a compact disc-format product for each and every song on each and every system they might have in operation. Even legal download sites selling Ka- raoke video files (there are many illegal ones as you might imagine) are for home consumer use only as stated in the site’s Terms and Conditions or End User License Agreements.

The average price per song on a legally manufactured disc is about $1, so if a host claims that they have over 20,000 or 30,000 songs, they would have had to invest that much money in their music libraries. Some hosts who have been in business a long time might have made such an investment, but the majority of Karaoke Hosts in business less than a few years with libraries this size most likely have acquired their libraries illegally.

Another clue is the price that they are charging. Any host who has made an investment of tens of thousands of dollars simply can- not afford to work for less than about $150 a night. Illegal hosts often work for $75 a night (or less!) and/or beer and tip money.

I already paid my ASCAP/BMI/SESAC fees.

That’s good. Keep paying those fees, because they go to compensate the songwriters and music publishers who supply the material Chartbuster Karaoke uses to record our accompaniment tracks. Chartbuster Karaoke pays royalties to the music publishers, too. Chartbuster Karaoke does not receive any portion of your ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC fees.

Isn’t this all about making more money?

It is about making 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. (Besides, if it was only about making money, why would we bother to create a free safe harbor program, in which we voluntarily agree not to sue you?)

How will you use the information I give you?

We will use the information you provide us about your venue to verify who you are, so that when we bring an enforcement ac- tion in your area, we keep you out of the lawsuits we file. We will use the information you provide us about your karaoke host to verify that the host is operating legally--or, if not, to help that host get legal and square with our policies; we have very affordable song packages and financing programs. We may also use all of that information to notify you about developments in the karaoke industry that you might be interested in.

How do I sign up? The easiest way is through our Registration Page at www.chartbusterkaraoke.com/safeharbor. Just answer a series of questions about your venue, read a few disclosures, and you’re done. If you’d rather sign up on paper, we have provided a form that you can fax, e-mail, or mail to us.

What if I own/run more than one venue?

You should separately sign up each venue you own/run, if karaoke is being (or will be) provided there using accompaniment tracks provided by someone else (such as a karaoke host).

What happens after I sign up?

You’ll be given a set of instructions to follow every time you hire someone who will be bringing songs into your venue to run a karaoke show. We ask you to do three things: (1) Have the karaoke host fill out a two-page form with information about the host’s karaoke system(s), (2) Register that form with us, and (3) if we ask you to do so, do a quick inspection of the host’s system.

Can you guarantee I won’t be sued?

Yes and no. If you follow our instructions, we guarantee that Chartbuster Karaoke will not sue you for copyright or trademark infringement based upon the actions of any registered host. If we determine that the host you’ve hired is an infringer and we are unable to resolve our dispute with the host, we will notify you. If you continue to use the services of that host after 30 days fol- lowing our notification, we may sue you for infringement occurring after that date.

Also, we cannot guarantee that another company, such as a competitor of Chartbuster Karaoke, will not sue you, even if you are in our Safe Harbor program. Therefore you might wish to verify with your host that he has legally purchased music for his entire library and have him prove it.

How much does this program cost?

The program is 100% free to venues and karaoke hosts at this time.

I own my own system. Is there a safe harbor for me?

Venues that own their own karaoke systems should determine whether their systems are operating legally. See our Staying Legal page for more details on how to do that. Venues that own their own systems are not eligible for the VCSH program, but should get legal through Chartbuster Karaoke’s regular channels.

How do I register my host’s information?

Ask your host to log onto this website and visit the page http://www.chartbusterkaraoke.com/hosts-safe-harbor and fill out the form there. You can also request a paper version of the form by contacting us on our Safe Harbor Hotline at (800) 347-5504 extension 524. Then either fax the completed and signed form to (865) 342-2557, scan it and email it to safeharbor@chartbusterkaraoke.com, or mail it to Chartbuster Karaoke Safe Harbor, 10840 Chapman Hwy., Seymour, TN 37865. You will receive a confirmation by fax or e-mail within two business days of our receipt.

I want to do more to fight karaoke piracy and ensure a level playing field for my venue. What can I do?

One of the best things you can do as a venue owner is to join the Karaoke Industry Alliance of America (KIAA). More information is available on the KIAA Website (www.thekiaa.org). You should also give the enclosed flyer “For Hosts” to your KJs and encourage them to read it thoroughly and provide the necessary proof of ownership for their music discs.

Contact Us

For questions about signing up for the VCSH program as a venue, please call, or send an e-mail with your questions to safeharbor@chartbusterkaraoke.com. Due to the volume of inquiries, we cannot provide telephone support at this time, but we respond to email questions within two business days. Please include your name and a daytime telephone number, in case we need to contact you.

Our mailing address is:

Chartbuster Karaoke Safe Harbor

10840 Chapman Hwy. Seymour, TN 37865

To report piracy, you can:

• Send an e-mail to piracy@chartbusterkaraoke.com (Best method)
• or Call the Chartbuster Karaoke Enforcement Hotline at (800) 347-5504 and ask for Extension 524
• or Report it online at www.illegalkaraoke.com

If you have already received notice that you were sued by Chartbuster Karaoke and want to discuss a settlement, call our Chartbuster Karaoke Enforcement Hotline at (800) 347-5504 and ask for Extension 524. If you call outside our usual business hours, you can leave a message, and someone will return your call within 1-2 business days.

Venue Safe Harbor Registration Form