If you meet and maintain all policy requirements, you can obtain permission from us to use media-shifted and/or format-shifted Sound Choice®-branded or Chartbuster Karaoke®-branded karaoke tracks for commercial purposes.

An original medium is an original CD+G or other original product that was physically released by Sound Choice or Chartbuster, as applicable. We sometimes refer to "red logo" tracks with regard to Sound Choice. A "red logo" CD+G can be identified by the use in the track itself of the Sound Choice logo with white writing and a red musical staff.

A non-original medium is any data storage device not originally manufactured and distributed by Sound Choice or Chartbuster, as applicable. Examples include hard drives (internal or external), USB drives, dedicated karaoke computers (manufacturers include CAVS and RSQ, among others), SD cards, or even compact discs or DVDs. Please note that Chartbuster Karaoke tracks were frequently distributed on media other than CD+G discs, including SD cards, computer hard drives, and CAVS discs.

Media-shifting means putting karaoke tracks on a non-original medium (even if you copy them from a non-original medium).

Format-shifting means changing the format of the track from the original format (such as CD+G) to another format, such as MP3+G. Format-shifting always requires media-shifting, but media-shifting might not require format-shifting.

Policy requirements:

• You must notify us of your intention to media-shift and/or format-shift the content of any Sound Choice-branded CD+G or Chartbuster Karaoke-branded original medium prior to the initiation of any investigation by us of your potential media-shifting or piracy activities.
• You must maintain ownership and possession of the original media whose content you have shifted during the entire time the content is stored on the non-original media.
• While the content has been shifted, you may not use the original media for any purpose, commercial or otherwise.
• If you want to shift the content of any of the original media to more than one non-original medium, you must acquire one or more sets of additional original media, so that you maintain a 1-to-1 correspondence relationship between each original medium and each non-original medium.
• You must request and pay any required fees for an audit of your original media, non-original media, and other related documents such as song lists and receipts. The audit allows us to make sure our intellectual property is being protected.

The current fee for audits may be found at this link, under "What It Costs."

If you use media-shifted or format-shifted tracks that carry our trademarks for any commercial purpose without meeting all of the policy requirements, we may sue you for trademark infringement.

You should also remember that our permission may not be enough to legalize your media-shifting activities. Music publishers and others may hold rights that require you to obtain their permission for media-shifting or playing media-shifted tracks commercially. We're not responsible for your compliance with those rights.

Certification is one process by which karaoke operators can obtain our permission to use media-shifted or format-shifted karaoke accompaniment tracks in commercial karaoke shows. Our permission is needed because the process of media-shifting or format-shifting involves making a copy of a Sound Choice or Chartbuster Karaoke track—a new physical product—that contains our trademarks and/or other intellectual property. Using these copies to put on a commercial karaoke show without our permission is an act of piracy that may subject you to civil liability.

The certification process requires you to follow all of the steps of the Media-Shifting Policy. Provided that you follow all of those steps and pass an audit verifying your compliance, we will issue you a Covenant Not to Sue document, which constitutes our permission to use media-shifted tracks in the commercial karaoke shows you put on. You will also be identified as a Sound Choice and/or Chartbuster Karaoke Certified KJ on our website, if you choose.

Please note that while our permission is necessary for legal media-shifting, it may not be sufficient. Other rights holders, such as music publishers, may have the right to prevent you from media-shifting content. We can't speak for those rights holders. If you have concerns, you can contact the rights holders yourself to get permission, or you can consult with an attorney of your choosing about whether permission is needed.

The following rules apply to the certification process:

• If you have been sued by us, you must not modify your hard drive(s) before we conduct our inspection/audit. If you do so, those modifications will be detected during the discovery process and may result in severe sanctions from the court for destruction of evidence.
• If you have not been investigated prior to your contacting us to notify us of media-shifting, you may make modifications to your hard drives to bring them into compliance with the 1:1 correspondence requirement. Please ask us whether you have been investigated before making any modifications.
• There is a fee for certification. The fee we charge depends upon the number of systems we must inspect and whether or not you have been sued.
• If, during the audit, we determine that you have demonstrated 1:1 correspondence to within 2% of the tracks on your hard drive (i.e., you have discs for at least 98% of the tracks on your hard drive), we will consider that to be a passing score. However, to qualify for certification, you must delete any tracks for which you do not have corresponding original discs.
• After notifying us that you have media-shifted, you can consider yourself to have our provisional permission to use the media-shifted tracks. This is because we have limited resources and may not be able to schedule your audit immediately. However, once we notify you that we are ready to audit you, the audit must be completed within a reasonable time. Failure to agree to an audit date may result in our withdrawing the provisional permission.
• At your audit, you must give us access to (a) your hard drive(s), (b) your discs, and (c) any other equipment necessary to complete the inspection.
• We may provide you with additional rules, parameters of inspection, and conditions specific to your situation at any time.

Once you are certified, you may maintain your certification by notifying us of tracks added to your system(s). You are required to notify us any time you increase the number of tracks by more than 2%.

We recommend that the musical component of all tracks be encoded at 320 kbps (the maximum available under the MP3 standard) and require that they be encoded at a minimum of 192 kbps.

If you have questions about certification or media-shifting, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you use original Sound Choice® discs or original Chartbuster Karaoke® media to put on your karaoke shows, congratulations. You're using your media the way we originally intended, and, in the process, you're getting the highest possible performance from the material.

Because there has been some confusion about what it takes to run a legal karaoke show using Sound Choice® or Chartbuster Karaoke® karaoke tracks, we wanted to make certain that original-disc operators know that they're doing it right.

As long as you use original discs, you don't need any permission from us to run your shows, and you don't need to pay us for anything more—not for media-shifting and not for certification.

The reason for this is simple: You paid for your discs (or someone did, anyway), and you are only using them the way we intended when we sold them originally.

Original-disc operators might feel like they're at a disadvantage because of the availability of certification and HELP licensing for media-shifting operators. For that reason, we'll gladly include you in our certification program at no charge. Just contact us and request the form.

Also, if you're an original-disc operator and you find yourself named as a defendant in a lawsuit, we want to know about it immediately. We try hard to avoid naming original-disc operators in lawsuits, but there are certain situations where our investigators might miss that you're using original discs instead of copies or a laptop, for example. We will dismiss any verified original-disc operator from a lawsuit as quickly as we possibly can, to minimize the impact of the lawsuit on your operations. To all of our original-disc operators, we gladly say "thanks"—keep on spinning!

Our predecessor, Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation, had a policy under which any original CD+G disc owner whose disc became broken or scratched could obtain a replacement at no charge for the disc (a nominal $5.95 fee for shipping and handling of the replacement was charged), as long as that disc remained in stock.

Unfortunately, all CD+G discs have now been discontinued, and we simply do not have the ability to replace broken or scratched discs. We can, however, help you locate a replacement on the secondary market, and we can point you to resurfacing equipment that may help you buff out scratches. Just contact Customer Care for more information.

We'd also like to point out that for a small one-time fee, you can get permission to use media-shifted copies of tracks made from your original discs, so that you can put those originals in storage. Just check out our Certification Page for more details.

Phoenix Entertainment Partners, LLC is the owner of the registered trademarks SOUND CHOICE (Reg. nos. 1,923,448 and 4,099,045), the Sound Choice Logo (Reg. nos. 2,000,725 and 4,099,052), and CHARTBUSTER KARAOKE (Reg. nos. 3,657,553, 3,660,592, and 3,660,593). Phoenix Entertainment Partners, LLC also owns various state registrations and common-law rights in these marks. Use of these marks without permission may constitute a violation of state or federal law.

This site is designed, among other things, to provide information about our policies, the laws of the United States regarding intellectual property, and the manner in which we enforce our rights. This site does not provide legal advice. If you have questions of a legal nature, we encourage you to contact experienced counsel regarding your specific situation.

The information provided on this site is subject to periodic modification. Also, please note that while the information we provide is believed to be correct and reliable, you should seek and keep your own counsel regarding the matters disclosed and described on this site.

By continuing to use this site, you signify your acceptance of the terms and conditions in this section, particularly including our privacy policy and all other policies in effect at the time you are visiting this site.

Privacy Policy

We take your privacy seriously, and we want you to know how we collect, use, share and protect your information.

We collect and store information you provide us through our websites, including when you create an account, place an order, request new production of a song, or call us or email us with a question. This information includes things like your name, your mailing address, your email address, your phone number, your credit card number and payment information, your driver's license number, credit application information (including your social security number), and information about your personal interests and preferences. It also includes information you give us about other people and entities, such as when you purchase a new license on behalf of a corporate entity.

We may also receive information about you from other sources, such as credit reporting agencies in connection with a credit application, or payment authorizations from your bank when you use a credit card. Some of the information we collect is collected automatically, such as when our websites track your activities online through cookies, sessions, and other mechanisms. We also routinely collect IP addresses to ensure that our systems remain secure against malicious users and attempted fraud.

We use the information we collect to fulfill orders and requests for products, services, and information; marketing our products and services; communicating with you regarding discounts and promotions; and operating, evaluating, and improving our business practices and procedures. We also share some of the information we collect with third parties when necessary to complete the purpose of your visit or to comply with the law or legal process. For example, we share your credit card payment information with our payment processor to authorize charges at your request.

If you are a licensee of ours, we may share certain basic information about you with the general public through our Licensee Directory. We will remove any or all of your information from our Licensee Directory upon your request. Simply contact Customer Care to have the information removed.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for any purpose.

We retain your information for as long as it is needed to provide you with services, to comply with legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements.

We use reasonable security measures to protect your personal information while it is under our control. However, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you provide us, and you do so at your own risk.

You can choose to stop receiving marketing or promotional emails, direct mail, or phone solicitations from us at any time by notifying us through the procedures specified in the email or direct mail or by notifying a representative via telephone or via email to customercare@phxep.com. You can also request that we delete all information collected from you from our records; however, please understand that while we intend to honor all such requests to the extent we can legally do so, we may not be able to delete information if it is relevant to any lawsuit, if it is needed to protect our rights and interests, or for other reasons.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Our websites are principally directed to adults only.

We may, from time to time, link to other websites that may have privacy policies that differ from this policy. Please review the privacy policy for the site you are viewing.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time by updating this page.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Your California Privacy Rights

Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, residents of California have the right to request from a business, with whom the California resident has an established business relationship, certain information with respect to the types of personal information the business shares with third parties for direct marketing purposes by such third parties and the identities of the third parties with whom the business has shared such information during the immediately preceding calendar year.

Because Phoenix Entertainment Partners, LLC does not share your personal information with third parties for any purpose, no additional disclosure under California Civil Code &sec; 1798.83 is required.

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