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Piracy Warning To Karaoke DJs
KARAOKE DJs have been warned over CD piracy which could land them in jail.The joint alert by Hartlepool Borough Council trading standards department and an industry watchdog comes as a town DJ has £5,000 worth of counterfeit CDs seized.
Gen Stenberg, of the Public Performance Music Partnership, which represents the DJ products industry believes such piracy is costing millions of pounds. He says fake karaoke video CDs and hit compilation CDs are widespread in pubs and clubs - and those caught with the illegal music could face up to 10 years in prison. The legal versions cost around £20 but counterfeit versions are only for a fraction of that price. "We are running a high profile programme targeting DJs who everybody knows are using knock-off equipment," he said. "It is estimated that 60 to 70 per cent of the karaoke products in the UK are counterfeits. "The quality is often very poor and the image breaks on screen, it gives a bad impression of the karaoke industry as it is often done by people who don't look after their equipment and may have unsafe speakers or lights." Mr Stenberg says new legislation introduced last year means anyone using counterfeit CDs, or allowing their premises to be used for the CDs to be played, can be prosecuted. "Any equipment involved in the playing and recording of these items can be seized. "We have been into places that have computers rigged up to MTV to produce CDs that haven't even reached the record shops. "If somebody is trying to go straight and buy the CDs rather than copying them and try to make a bit of extra money by doing karaoke, they can be undercut by someone who has cut their costs right down by copying them. "It is also hitting disco shops because they were once selling hundreds of these CDs and now they are only selling two or three." He added that the illegal trade was also stopping the music Industry investing in new talent due to falling profits and hitting the pockets of performers playing on the karaoke and compilation CDs. Michael Welsh, the council's head of trading standards, confirmed around 200 CDs had been seized from a Hartlepool DJ, who has not been named, and the department was considering a prosecution He said: "For a small place, Hartlepool has a large leisure industry therefore we must protect both national and local businesses and stamp out rogue traders.
Reproduced with kind permission from The Hartlepool Mail
Picture by David Wood
Karaoke Info > News :: 2003-01-29 Piracy Warning To Karaoke DJs