| From the Where2sing.com forum: Karaoke couple welcome copyright action
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ONE News
http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/karaoke-couple-welcome-copyright-action-4123081
As new copyright laws target illegal downloads, a couple say they have fought for years to get the police to take action against illegal copying. For the past 10 years, Ken and Leanne Willis of Sundown Karaoke have produced karaoke music for bars and clubs.
The small family business has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on building up their business; they produce the music and backing graphics and pay royalties.
The pair have a passion for karaoke, but says sales have been falling to the point where they are struggling to feed their family.
Leanne told TV ONE's Close Up that sales have fallen 85-90%.
They blame illegal copies of their work sold for a fraction of the cost. But in spite of the sales being against the law, they claim the police have not been interested. 'Products are being stolen off us left, right, centre ... the answer is 'oh no we don't do copyright,'' said Ken.
Leanne said police answers range from 'it's not a police matter', to 'go get a lawyer', to 'go to internal affairs'. Instead they have had to take matters into their own hands, filing civil cases against over a dozen karaoke pirates in New Zealand and Australia.
Without help from the police they have had to turn detective, going undercover to catch one sale on tape.
Sundown said that after three years of complaints the police have finally begun to take their problem seriously and have agreed to investigate. But they fear it's help which has come too late. Leanne said they have two civil cases running at the moment, but they could have avoided a lot of stress if the police had been involved.
'The fact is, it's a crime,' said Ken. 'If someone said 'stolen car, do you want to buy it?' would you go for that? Same thing.'
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