Complex Legal Analysis, or a Ploy to Stop Drunken Singers? Why Would the Court Do Such a Thing??

Apparently, it's not a good time to be a karaoke manufacturer. In this great blog entry by Scott Cameron, he breaks down two recent copyright cases involving the types of licenses that karaoke manufacturers need to pay to (legally) get their little boxes of drunken fun into bars around the country. Spoiler alert - the karaoke guys lost. In both cases.

I must say, I do agree with the judges' decisions, overall - because karaoke comes complete with moving lyrics (surprisingly helpful reminders after a couple of beers, no matter how well you think you know the song), companies need to pay for a so-called 'sync' license, not merely a 'mechanical' license. Unlike mechanical licenses, which must be granted to anyone that seeks one and is willing to pay the fee, sync licenses are given only at the discretion of the copyright owner (who also sets the fee). The companies didn't want to pay the extra fees, so they got sued and lost. Sad news for dive bars everywhere, I'm sure.

However, I feel a little pang of injustice toward the plaintiffs in the second suit - a karaoke company that was paying the fees, and was (frankly) pissed off that other companies weren't doing the same. So, what do we do in the good 'ol U-S of A? We sue the bastards! Unfortunately, the case was thrown out because the plaintiffs didn't own any of the copyrights they were suing over. See, in a copyright case, only the owner can sue of the use of the copyrights - because those copyrights were owned by record companies and songwriters who decided not to sue, the karaoke company lacked standing. So, the only options the plaintiffs are left with are either: 1) continue paying the fees and getting undercut by their competitors; or 2) stop paying the fees and get sued themselves. If you ask me, that's kind of a crappy deal! Unfortunately, the plaintiffs can't force the copyright owners to sue (although, if they were sued in the future for not paying their fees anymore, they may have an affirmative defense).

Nevertheless, most of you bar rats can rest easy (and I say that lovingly for I, too, have a favorite neighborhood bar and it, too, is a dive) in the knowledge that most karaoke manufacturers will just pony up the fees (and maybe raise the prices a bit). However, not all companies will be able to do so - and I can almost hear the sobs of a poor drunken bar patron crying into their beer, damning the Ninth Circuit of the Federal District Court.