About the Karaoke Industry Lawsuits

Simply put, what is happening is theft. Chartbuster’s, Pop Hits Monthly’s and Sound Choice’s intellectual property is being stolen by karaoke hosts, who use it to make money without paying the producers a dime. All the producers have seen a steady decline in sales, even though karaoke is more popular than ever.

In 2009, in response to this overwhelming piracy, Sound Choice began to enforce its intellectual property rights more vigorously by initiating lawsuits in several states against hosts and venues that were using unauthorized copies of accompaniment tracks to make money and against pirates selling illegal systems preloaded with content.  Chartbuster Karaoke has also begun filing.

The current lawsuits are located here

These lawsuits allege that the defendants have committed a civil offense known as “copyright infringement” or “trademark counterfeiting” or “trademark infringement involving counterfeiting.” The producer’s products are marked with federally registered trademarks and are protected by US copyright law. When a karaoke host or someone manufacturing illegal systems makes an unauthorized copy of a track, that host is creating counterfeit goods and committing a federal violation.

Both copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting are serious offenses. In general, anyone found liable for civil copyright infringement may be ordered to pay either actual damages or “statutory” damages affixed at not less than $750 and not more than $30,000 per work infringed (each song is considered a “work”). For “willful” infringement, a court may award up to $150,000 per work infringed. A court can, in its discretion, also assess costs and attorneys’ fees. For details on copyright infringement see Title 17, United States Code, Sections 502-506.

Trademark infringement can lead to seizure and destruction of the infringing articles, plus damages of up to $200,000 per mark – even if the defendant did not know he or she was infringing. If the defendant did know that he or she was infringing, then the infringement is willful and the damages can be up to $2 million per mark. See Title 15 USC, Section 1117.

Individuals or businesses that have a financial benefit from providing an opportunity for such infringing individuals or businesses to operate create a liability for themselves and can be found to have vicarious or contributory liability.

A lawsuit is a serious matter. The member producers do not initiate lawsuits without undertaking an extensive investigation of an accused infringer. After the lawsuit is brought, they offer each of the defendants a reasonable settlement that includes helping them become compliant.  With the introduction of the KIAA Safe Harbor program, venues who hire karaoke hosts have a way to avoid a lawsuit by registering with us and doing some limited due diligence on their host.