Anti-Karaoke plaintiffs take the stage in federal court

Publishing company says Mass. label's instrumental versions of 118 popular songs infringe copyrights; penalties of $150,000 per infringement could mean huge damages award

Email | Print By E. Thomas Wood

Karaoke is going on trial -- not, as some might imagine, on charges related to poor taste and even poorer vocal ranges, nor, as some might fantasize, in a case that could lead to the death penalty for an entire genre of public entertainment. But the sing-along craze is nonetheless in the dock at Nashville's federal court.

Famous Music LLC, a unit of media giant Viacom Inc. that owns and administers song copyrights, has sued Stellar Records Inc., which is said to be one of the country's major producers of Karaoke recordings. The publishing firm claims that Stellar has been producing "illegal and unauthorized" copies of as many as 118 well-known rock, rap and country songs since at least 2000 and selling Karaoke versions of them under the brands "Pop Hits Monthly" and "Sing it Now."

The amount of money involved is potentially staggering. In addition to an injunction keeping Stellar from continuing to infringe, Famous is asking for damages based on the profits that the defendant has generated by selling the recordings in question. The lawsuit (a copy of which is available at this link) says that alternatively, Famous may yet choose to invoke its right under copyright law to statutory penalties of $150,000 per copyright infringed. For the 118 songs listed in an exhibit to the lawsuit, the total could reach $17.7 million.

Similar actions have transpired in several jurisdictions in recent years. Early rocker Chuck Berry and SheDaisy singer Kristyn Osborn are among the performers who have sued over infringement of their own works. Last November, a federal judge in California returned a $7.2 million default judgment against El Segundo-based Major Music Corp., producer of the "Music Maestro" series of Karaoke discs.

The songs run a wide gamut of styles, songwriters and performers. Paula Cole's 1997 number-one "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone," "Float On" by Modest Mouse, "Stan" by Eminem and Nashville songwriter Darrell Scott's "Long Time Gone" (a hit for the Dixie Chicks in 2002) are all on the list. If thinking about amateur renditions of those ditties is not enough to put your teeth on edge, then one other surely will: the Academy Award-winning Top Gun theme "Take My Breath Away."

Famous is based in Los Angeles and Stellar in Fall River, Mass., but the complaint was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee. Famous has an office on Music Row, and Tom Dundon of Neal & Harwell locally is representing the company along with a Wyoming attorney, Paul Harrison Stacey.

Stellar Records owner Tom Viveiros could not be reached today to discuss the lawsuit.