FAQ QUESTIONS

ANSWERS
(Note: These Questions and Answers are provided as a convenient summary. In the event of any question regarding interpretation or meaning in the text here, the actual GEM Series License agreement will prevail. )

1. What is the GEM Series product line?

For Professional Karaoke Jockeys, the set-up of choice for Karaoke shows has become MP3G files played back from a hard drive system. Unfortunately, until now, there has not been a legal source of Sound Choice MP3G files. As a matter of fact, in 90%+ cases, KJs with song files on their hard drive systems have obtained them illegally, either through buying them preloaded on a hard drive device or ripping them from their singer’s CDGs or swapping files with other KJs or making multiple copies of their own libraries. The GEM Series from Sound Choice has 6000 top performed songs available on 30 song discs with MP3G files already ripped and ready for you! These are 320 kbps files for optimum sound quality and file size and include the metadata for easy organization of your song library.
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2. What are the laws or rules governing the transfer of CDG song content to a computer?

We understand the desire to make life easier by shifting all your song content (i.e., not running the original discs) to a computer and running your shows from a laptop. Unfortunately, this format/media shift from CDG to MP3G files on your computer is not an authorized right that is granted to Karaoke producers in their CDG licenses from the publishers, therefore Karaoke producers cannot in turn grant you full rights to make this shift.

In some countries that have a Rights Society that represents all copyrighted works, the UK and Australia for example, they do have a license granting such a shift. In the UK, it’s called a “Pro-Dub” license and costs approximately USD a year. In Australia, the cost to do this is nearly USDpackages_faq.pcdj.15 per song! In the case of Karaoke, since the Rights Societies do not represent or collect for the Karaoke producers, the Karaoke companies must be paid on top of these fees. However, in the US, such permissions would need to be obtained from each publisher for each song, since there is not an organization that represents all songs for Karaoke.

In the US, for all intellectual property rights, unless a right is specifically granted by the Copyright or Trademark law, then all other rights are reserved to the rights holder and therefore you must obtain written permission from the various rights holders to be 100% in the clear if you are going to be using or doing something with their property for which you do not have permission. In some circumstances, judicial rulings have declared certain rights to be inherent, such as those that might be granted by “fair use” privileges under US Copyright law.

However, “FAIR USE” does not extend to COMMERCIAL USE of Intellectual Property. Thus, the ONLY way for a commercial user of the content to avoid potential problems if you wish to do (or have done) a format/media shift is to obtain in advance, written permission or a Covenant Not To Sue from the rights holders to do the shift to another media/format. And that documentation is not likely to be given without some sort of audit to prove 1:1 already and it will also contain clauses outlining under what conditions you must operate so you can continue to avoid being sued.
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3. What is Sound Choice’s policy on transferring songs off the original disc and onto a computer or CAVS machine?

The complete format/media shift policy with Sound Choice 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), subsequent to a possible audit, 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 Sound Choice for those that want to prove compliance and legitimacy without having to be prompted or investigated as the motivation.

That's one advantage of licensing the GEM Series, all of this is clearly spelled out in writing for the Licensee and they can show that they are legal and legitimate with Sound Choice to any venue which asks for proof of compliance with Sound Choice's policies.
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4. Why are you licensing the GEM Series discs instead of selling them?

Having a license is not much different than purchasing the discs, because even when you “purchase” a CD or a CDG, YOU NEVER OWN THE MUSIC on the discs. There is a misconception when it comes to Intellectual Property rights, people think "these discs are mine - I bought them and I can do what I want with them". You really only own the plastic of the disc and what you can do with them IS limited by Federal Copyright and Trademark laws AND any written license granting you specific permissions if they aren't expressly granted by Federal laws. With all the confusion regarding your rights, we decided to specifically put in writing what is being granted and what restrictions are associated with the use of the GEM Series songs. Further it is an additional anti-piracy tool to help protect both the Licensor (Sound Choice) and the Licensee (you – the user) from illegal use of the content and unfair competition.

We are providing you as much "protection" as possible doing it this way. You will have an original copy of a rights-paid disc, which includes the right to use the disc in a commercial situation, therefore, if you were to use the original GEM series disc in a commercial show you could not be sued by anyone for the use of that disc. Further, because we understand the desire to not have to carry physical discs, we are also giving you permission in writing for doing ONE media shift to a different medium (a computer or hard drive for example), provided you keep the original copy (locked in a safe deposit box, under your bed, etc. ) and you never use it.

However, it is important to note that since we do not control 100% of all the IP rights associated with the music, we cannot speak for the other rights holders. Therefore, we are not indemnifying you on behalf of the other rights holders who only got paid for the copy on the disc that we licensed to you NOT for the shifted copy that you create.

It is our opinion, that if you follow our guidelines for the format/media shift, that you will not encounter any significant problems with the other rights holders, since they will have been paid for the original copy, which you agree to archive and not use.
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5. What Is Format Shifting?

"Format shifting" is copying content from one technological format to another. Examples of Video formats are AVI, DivX, MPEG-4, Quicktime, WindowsMedia, Xvid. Each of these formats is further complicated by having different codec associated with each format. A Compact Disc Plus Graphics format song (commonly referred to as CDG or CD+G) is technically a red book standard audio format with the lyric information “hidden” in the R thru W subcodes. The song content exists on the CD as a “track”. On the other hand, the MP3 Plus Graphics format is basically a CDG file that has been format shifted to enable playback on a computer system rather than an audio disc player. It consists of the digital audio file compressed to the MP3 standard audio format and the R-W graphics data stored in a separate file. When played back through an appropriate software program both files are read simultaneously and synchronized to provide the audio and lyric playback. As such, the song content resides on a storage media as two separate files or one zipped file and can be easily transferred as digital files.
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6. What is Media Shifting?

“Media shifting” is moving a file from one physical media to another. For example moving a file from a USB memory stick (one form of media) to the hard drive of your computer (a second form of media) is “media shifting”. In the specific case of moving content from a CDG disc to a hard drive on a computer, the user is both format shifting AND media shifting. However, in the case of moving the Sound Choice MP3G file from the original GEM Series disc to your hard drive, you are merely media shifting the song content, since the original paired file format is maintained.
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7. If I own other original Sound Choice discs can I shift those to a computer or hard drive?

By default it is illegal to format shift karaoke tracks in the absence of written permission from all Intellectual Property rights holders. Therefore, the “safest” thing to do to avoid an investigation or possible lawsuit would be to obtain that permission from all rights holders in advance. However, the KIAA Member karaoke producers (of which Sound Choice is a founding member) have come out in agreement that we will NOT continue to pursue a lawsuit against someone if they have merely shifted the content from an original legal product and can prove they owned that product prior to any investigation and continue to own it. You must maintain a 1:1 relationship between the songs on your original discs to the songs on your computer systems. If you have repeated a song title from a particular brand on one non-original media (a computer or hard drive or memory device), then you need to have an equal number of original discs in your possession to cover those songs. Pirates, on the other hand, have never owned any legal content in any media or format, and will not be given such a "pass" in a lawsuit.
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8. What is meant by 1:1?

We use the term “1:1” as a shortened explanation for our Format/Media shifting policy. Briefly, it means if the user decides to shift the content from a legal original disc, it can be shifted onto ONLY ONE OTHER non-original device (for example, a computer or hard drive). You cannot copy the contents from one disc to multiple computers or drives. And if a NEW COPY is created by copying from the ORIGINAL disc, the original media must not be used in any way, shape or form and you must maintain possession (in a vault or closet, for example, unused). Thus you must maintain a “one-to-one” relationship of legally owned original discs for each new copy of the song files transferred to a new non-original media.
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9. Why Is the GEM Series only available to professional KJs, DJs and Venues?

We are licensing (not selling) the GEM Series content directly to the end user, in order to reduce the opportunity for piracy of the files. Each set of discs must be accompanied with the appropriate signed agreements in order for their use to be legal. The cost and size of the song packages lend themselves to the Professional Market only and working at the licensing is too complex to handle at the Consumer level. It is the intention of Sound Choice to make them available ONLY to professional KJs, who are our primary market for our MP3G files.
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10. Does the GEM Series duplicate any Sound Choice music on other Sound Choice products?

All of the songs in the GEM Series have been previously released on various Spotlight CDGs. We began with what we thought were the 10,000 best songs (out of the 18,000 we recorded over the last 25 years) and then continuously whittled down the list based on being able to obtain the licensing and fitting them together into some sort of coherent list. For those who have already bought the Foundation and Bricks, the Diamond contains all 1,500 of those songs and an additional 1,500 songs.
The GEM Series is ideally suited for the legal hosts who would like to add on to their existing collection or start a new system or for the KJ who has been operating illegally and wants to get legal and avoid being sued. Some of the GEM Series sets are also used as the sets of discs offered in settlement of a lawsuit with Sound Choice.

By defining an additional requirement to be compliant with Sound Choice’s policies, the GEM Series provides the professional KJ a level of protection against being pirated by their own employees and something they can use to prove they are legal. If they want to sell their business they can pass along the GEM Series discs (with certain limitations) as part of that sale.
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11. Can I license an individual GEM disc?

At this point we do not intend to license the individual GEM Series discs. We are working with a third party to bring back custom discs and our customers could once again use them to "fill the holes" in their Sound Choice collection. Watch for an announcement on our home page, or subscribe to the Sound Choice newsletter on the right side of this page to stay up-to-date on Sound Choice karaoke news.
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12. Can SC demand the return of the discs?

Yes, but only if you violate the terms of the License Agreement or if you choose not to renew at the end of the five year term.
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13. Will you take into account possible business name changes of shows by hosts that bought your discs?

Yes, if you change your business name or method of organization (LLC, Partnership, etc) just contact us and we’ll be glad to change our records.
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14. Why the fee after five years?

The in five years is what is known as a "Peppercorn Clause" (or nominal consideration) in the legal world. The fee is included to satisfy certain legal requirements to make the contract legal and binding for both parties. Remember, the would be a MAXIMUM fee and it might be much lower; whatever the fee is at the time of renewal, it would cover all licensed discs. We will have "addendums" adding on all content covered under the license if you add to the originally licensed sets.
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15. What if I want to sell my business and keep my computer equipment?

You may not transfer possession of the original GEM Series discs or the computer on which you transferred the songs to any third party unless (i) you have our written permission to do so, or (ii) you complete and return a “Certificate for Transfer of Possession of Licensed Media”. The third party must also execute the then-current version of the Agreement with Sound Choice as a condition of the transfer. In the event of a transfer, you must remove the GEM Series songs from any computer or hard drive to which you have shifted that content unless the transfer of the GEM Series discs is part of the transaction and we give prior written approval for the transfer to the third party.
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16. What do you mean by not splitting the set?

All songs on all discs in a set under a corresponding Proof of License Sticker must reside together on the same hard drive system. They may not be split up so as to subdivide the set, load part of the set onto one Non-Original Medium and part of the set onto another Non-Original Medium, or divide the set for transfer to multiple recipients. For further clarification and the avoidance of doubt by way of example, all songs on Discs numbered 10001 thru 10100 and commonly referred to as The Diamond must remain together on the one Non-Original Medium which will have the corresponding Proof-of License Sticker affixed to it; all songs on Discs numbered 10181 through 10190 and commonly referred to as Sapphire 1 must remain together on one Non-Original Medium which will have the corresponding Proof-of License Sticker affixed to it, etc.
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17. I live in Canada; can I license the GEM Series up here?

Yes, the GEM Series can be licensed in Canada and its Territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon) and in the U.S. and its Territories (the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).
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18. Do I need any Performance License to put on a show?

If you are hosting a karaoke show (where other people come up and sing to your collection of karaoke tracks) and you are doing PRIVATE EVENTS (weddings, birthday parties, Church social events, corporate parties, etc.) you do not need further licenses to use Sound Choice discs. If you are hosting an event in a venue such as a restaurant or bar, the venue is supposed to have PERFORMANCE LICENSES issued from ASCAP (www.ascap.com ) or BMI (www.bmi.com ) which would cover your playing there. Again, the requirement for the performance license is on the venue, not you
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