Frequently Asked Questions

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Membership

Anti-Piracy

KJ or Hosting

Membership

Who can join the KIAA?

First and foremost the KIAA is a professional trade organization whose main objective is to advance all aspects of commerce within the karaoke industry by providing information and support as well as a number of programs and initiatives that are intended to remedy the current ailing business environment for the karaoke professional. Of course the goals of the KIAA stretch well beyond the remedial, with plans to offer additional programs designed to create a favourable business environment that can help stimulate growth in the karaoke industry.

If you derive any income from any aspect of karaoke, are professionally engaged in any way within the karaoke industry (i.e. KJ/host, venue, retailer, producer, etc.), then you are eligible for a professional membership in the KIAA. However karaoke enthusiasts at any level be it an avid performer, a diehard fan, or just a casual follower can also become a member of the KIAA with an associate membership.

Whether you qualify for a professional membership or join as an associate member, a membership in the KIAA offers many benefits to all of its members.

How Do I Join The KIAA?

Click on the “Join Now” button on the home page, or on the left side menu click the "Membership" link, then choose the type of membership for which you qualify, and simply follow the instructions on that page.

Your membership application will be reviewed and following KIAA approval, your membership packet including your membership card will be sent within 5 to 10 business days.

I'm a hosting company with employees and/or subcontractors using multiple rigs. As a KIAA member must I use KIAA members only as KJ’S or hosts?

Yes, every host will be required to have an individual membership in the KIAA.

I'm a hosting company with employees and/or subcontractors using multiple rigs. Will one membership cover all of my employees and subcontractors?

No, every host will be required to have an individual membership in the KIAA. Your company can purchase re-assignable individual memberships in cases where the employee or subcontractor is not already a KIAA member and has no intention of acquiring a membership. These annually renewable memberships can be re-assigned to different individuals as often as needed. Currently there is no re-assignment fee, and a new card with the same membership ID# will be issued identifying the new individual as an employee or a subcontractor of your company. The previous individual will be removed from the database and will no longer identify him or her as a KIAA member.

 

Anti-Piracy

In the past I have purchased hard drives on eBay, Craigslist and several other websites and dealers containing karaoke songs and was told they were legal – is that true?

No. To date, no legitimate karaoke label of which the KIAA is aware of has ever offered its products on hard drives. Therefore any and all hard drives containing pre-loaded karaoke music are illegal. This also applies to the purchase of similar systems containing thousands of songs from traditional dealers. The world of intellectual property is in a constant state of flux and therefore what was not legal yesterday might be perfectly legal today. If there are exceptions in which the KIAA is unaware of, we will verify each hard drive system on a case by case basis.

What should I do if the hard drive I just purchased contains pre-loaded music or other copyrighted material?

Unless the hard drive (or any other mass storage device) was purchased directly from the karaoke label, or in the alternative a certificate of authenticity has been issued by ALL of the karaoke labels represented on the hard drive purchased, the KIAA recommends that you immediately STOP PAYMENT on any checks written to the seller, or in the case of a credit card payment, request a “charge reversal” from your credit card company for any devices containing pre-loaded musical or other copyrighted content, and/or illegal content of any kind.

If the drive was purchased in the past, you should inform the seller that you’ve since discovered that any hard drive or mass storage device containing pre-loaded musical content and/or other unauthorized copyrighted material is illegal, and that as a seller of that device either knew of its illegality, or had an obligation to know of its illegality, and therefore on that basis you are entitled to and demand a refund.

In either case, you should immediately contact the KIAA so that your case can be reviewed. Once the stop payment, charge reversal or refund has been satisfied, you will then be instructed to either return the hard drive to the seller or submit the device to the proper authorities as evidence.

You should also immediately log onto the KIAA website then click on the Contact Us button located on the left side of the homepage menu bar, and select “Report suspected piracy”. Then in the text box below, enter any information that you may find helpful including the seller’s contact information, date of purchase, purchase price, copies of any advertisements, classified ads or any other means of communication used in the sale and/or support of the hard drive that was purchased.

You can also file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The IC3 is co-sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar Crime Center. Complaints filed on the website are processed and may be referred to federal, state, local or international law enforcement or regulatory agencies for possible investigation.

The Federal Trade Commission also has a centralized data collection system and you can file a complaint with them as well. They use this information to detect patterns which might lead to investigations and prosecutions. They do not, however, investigate individual complaints but you will be doing your part to help shut down a criminal enterprise by filing a complaint with them. Look for the link to the FTC Complaint Assistant in the upper right corner of the page.

I followed the KIAA recommendations for returning a pre-loaded hard drive but the seller was either a private seller, no longer in business, or refused to cooperate. Does the KIAA offer an alternative which will allow me to bring the hard drive into full compliance?

While it's appalling that many professional and general consumers alike have been taken advantage of by these dishonest sellers, it is also unfortunate that in many cases consumers have been unable to obtain a refund or credit/stop payment and have been left with drives containing unauthorized content, rendering them for all intents and purposes un-useable.

The content on these drives must either be removed, or in the alternative, the KIAA through its arrangements with its karaoke label members, has developed a compliance program which provides KIAA members with a grace period and protection against litigation from these labels while at the same time offering KIAA members the opportunity to bring their content into full compliance. The KIAA has even gotten its member karaoke labels to under certain circumstances to generously offer a full credit for the unauthorized content that was purchased from these dishonest sellers.

For a current list of KIAA member labels, please click on the “Participating Members” link located on the main menu on the home page.

I'm a KJ and have now been made aware that my catalog contains unauthorized karaoke content – will I be labelled by the KIAA as a “pirate” and if so will the KIAA attempt to shut me down?

The KIAA realizes that there are a number of various scenarios by which a KJ host or karaoke company could possibly have acquired unauthorized content for their library, some perhaps unwittingly while others not so unwittingly. Rather than attempt to review each and every case, the KIAA has decided the most practical way of addressing this area would be to start out by giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and to offer a grace period (March 6, 2009) by which all KJ hosts and karaoke companies can be given the opportunity to “clean up” their library regardless as to how it was acquired.

The sale and purchase of unauthorized karaoke music not only deprives the producers of their just and hard earned compensation, it has the same effect throughout the entire distribution chain. It also puts KJs and karaoke companies who have a considerable investment in authorized karaoke products at a competitive disadvantage.

In answering the last part of the question, the primary goal of the KIAA with regards to piracy is to see that all karaoke content that is being used has been paid for. Any company unwilling to comply with that goal and wishes to continue to conduct an illegal operation will be shut down by the KIAA, and in certain cases, prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Why should I pay for music when I can download it for free from the internet?

Downloading music from unauthorized websites is theft just as surely as if you had stolen a physical CD from a store. It might not feel the same because you are sitting alone at your computer picking songs and downloading them to your hard drive, but it is illegal and is contributing to the decline of the karaoke industry. Federal copyright statutes (Sections 501 and 506 of Title 17 of the Copyright Act), the "No Electronic Theft” (NET) Act, as well as many court decisions have affirmed the illegality of downloading music from unauthorized websites.

 

KJ or Hosting

Can I use a computer to host a karaoke show?

The real problem here is not the use of a computer in and of itself, as many computers are quite capable of playing legitimate CD+Gs from their disc drive. The question that should be asked however is if the copying of karaoke music from a CD or similar device to a read/writable mass storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) is allowable. The KIAA does support the idea of the use computers and the use of mass storage devices for storing karaoke songs as is customarily done when hosting karaoke shows.

From a legal perspective however, we can neither approve nor disapprove of the use of these devices, nor can we advise you in that regard by providing you with a valid legal opinion. However, you should know that the KIAA would support almost any legislation that would back the use of hard drives for the storage and playback of karaoke songs enabling KJ hosts to legally offer their services using a computer based playback system utilizing a mass storage device (HDD, etc.).

The KIAA’s position is one of neutrality with respect to how karaoke music is stored. Whether you are using a HDD, CD, DVD, or Memory Cards, etc., our objective in this regard is to insure sure that a legitimate purchase of each song as well as a legitimate purchase for each and every copy of that song placed in additional libraries has been made.

If the KIAA can’t provide me with a legal opinion, then how is it that there are other websites doing so?

The KIAA is aware that there are some websites that go so far as to actually offer a legal opinion in this regard by stating that the use of hard drives under the “fair use” doctrine is legal.

This is a rather complex issue however and most of the websites that we have reviewed and are promoting the idea that it is legal to copy products to a hard drive under the “fair use” doctrine, have quite frankly over simplified the matter and in many instances are misleading those seeking a valid legal opinion.

While the “fair use” argument is by all means a valid one in this area, it does have its weaknesses and should by no means be considered as a “license” to use the intellectual property of others, but rather an “exemption” which is highly subject to litigation. Unlike a “compulsory” exemption (Section 115 of the copyright code) which grants the user the right to acquire a license to use the work even over the objection of the owner, a “fair use” exemption is NOT a license to exploit the works of the various rights holders without their permission, but rather would be better viewed as a “defense” in the absence of one. It is also worth noting that there is NO case law on point supporting the “fair use” argument as presented by many of these websites.

If the KIAA can’t provide me with any level of comfort regarding the legal use of a hard drive, can I expect a lawsuit from the karaoke labels if discovered that I am using one?

Nearly all karaoke labels are members of the KIAA and as members have agreed to a KIAA program whereby the karaoke label will refrain from any lawsuits against its fellow KIAA KJ members by entering a “covenant not to sue” as long as those members agree to reconcile their libraries with them. This “covenant not to sue” would apply regardless as to whether the content resides on a hard drive or other storage medium.

Can you explain in more detail what exactly is meant by the term 1:1 ratio?

In In the simplest of terms it means exactly as its name implies. For every song listed in each separate karaoke library that you own and register, you must have purchased a legitimate copy of that song. For example: if a karaoke company has 10 systems (or rigs) and each of these systems has its own separate library, then the songs contained in each of those libraries must have been legitimately purchased separately. On the other hand in cases where a KJ owns and uses more than one system or rig (primarily to accommodate various venues of different sizes, etc.), but only has one library and those rigs are never used simultaneously, then the KJ would only need to legitimately purchase the content for that one library.

What is the KJ Songbook Notice?

Each KJ who joins the KIAA must display the KJ Songbook Notice in the front of their songbook. It's a statement of principles that helps to educate the singers who attend your show. You can download a PDF file here from which you can print copies for your songbooks.

I purchased the original discs and copied them to a hard drive. Can I now sell these discs?

Yes you can sell the discs, but once sold you will no longer be able to keep copies of these discs or any of its contents on any storage media whatsoever. You will be required to destroy any copies of that disc as well as delete any songs or files copied and stored from that disc onto mass storage devices such as a HDD (hard disk drive).

Before making the decision to sell original discs, it should have been well thought out, taking into consideration that the original discs are the only acceptable “proof of purchase” of the original karaoke label’s tracks. Your disc library is a valuable business asset, and sales of these assets should only be considered when you decide to exit the business and no longer need to validate your library as proof of ownership.

It seems as if every karaoke label has been sued for copyright infringement at one time or another. Isn’t this setting a double standard by going after KJs and karaoke companies for piracy when the karaoke labels are doing the very same thing?

To put that question into its proper perspective we first need to recognize that piracy and copyright infringement (at least from the KIAA perspective) are not actually the very same things (see section on “Piracy vs. Copyright Infringement"). Indeed there are instances of copyright infringement that are equal in rank to piracy and possibly even more damaging in some cases. However due to the inherent complexities with regard to music licensing, in essence they are somewhat different in practice and are not so clear cut or easily defined.

In cases of piracy, there is little question as to whether an act of piracy has been committed. A karaoke song was either legitimately purchased or it wasn’t. There are little if any issues with regard to fractional ownerships, fair use or compulsory exemptions or a myriad of other issues that have deluged the court systems for a number of years as these matters have no bearing on an act of piracy but play very heavily with regard to infringement cases.

However, at the end of the day, if a karaoke label infringes on the copyright of a rights holder, then that label will have to answer for its own actions. Whether or not that label is found guilty of such charges, is irrelevant to the piracy issue. Each issue needs to stand on its own merits and as we all know, two wrongs never make a right.

Finally, there is a long history of disagreement between record labels and music publishers and with no immediate end in sight. You should not expect to see any slackening of infringement suits in the near future as this has now become a part of doing business in the world of intellectual property. Nevertheless, regardless as to one’s position on this, we can all agree that as an industry we cannot allow piracy to go unchecked, and if allowed to do so, it will certainly spell the demise of our industry.