Karaoke Crackdown

Earlier this week, Aaron deOliveira pointed to the news that the music industry was going after a pub in Syracuse, NY for having a karaoke night and not paying the related performance fees (the pub claims that only five songs in the rotation were on the list of complaints). Apparently, industry lawyers actually bothered to hire a private investigator to go to the pub and write down the songs being sung. By itself, this didn't necessarily seem postworthy. However, then Michael Geist pointed out that similar charges have been filed at some clubs in Canada. It's probably a coincidence, but perhaps the industry has suddenly decided that it's simply not squeezing enough money out of people singing along badly to songs they enjoy and has decided to start cracking down on "rogue" karaoke providers. Not that the recording industry is known for their "big picture" thinking, but this seems fairly shortsighted. Shouldn't they be encouraging more people to sing along with their favorite tunes? Next thing you know they'll start going after those of you who sing outloud as you listen to your iPods. After all, if you're outside, it is a "public performance."
From TechDirt

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