Recent Feedback
Is it legal to buy and use a karaoke jukebox machine (for home use in NSW, Australia) that comes with more than 30,000 songs but the price of the machine is only around $500? When I asked the seller about the copyright of songs, the seller gave me this reply: "This is a very important issue that is why we ensure that the unit comes with a hard disk loaded with all the songs by the factory. Other sellers in Australia and elsewhere simply "cloned" the hard disk and either sell it a a cheaper price or maximise their profits. Copyright for these songs is a very complex matter, and often they are grey. That's why we chose to do the right thing by purchasing the HD loaded with songs. However, if you do not feel good, you may delete all the songs (or we can delete for you) in the hard disk and load all your owns songs into the machine." Could you tell me whether I should trust this seller?
Optional Information: State/Territory: NSW
Could you tell me whether I should trust this seller? The seller may be diligently trying to comply with copyright law here, but the fact of the matter is he is incorrect. So unless you own the records or have purchased the mp3's that are on the jukebox, you are breaching the copyrights for those songs. One thing, however, the seller did say which is correct is that you can delete the songs and upload your own songs.If you're satisfied with the results of your question, then I'll ask you to please provide positive feedback so that I will get credit for the time spent on your question.
If the seller sells the machine loaded with the songs as one package , can I say that I own the machine and the songs as one package? Or do they have to list all the songs loaded and say that I am buying those songs to make it legal?
In law you are only buying the machine and not the songs. That is because the seller doesn't have the copyright to sell you the songs, he only has title to the machine and can therefore only sell you the machine. So it doesn't matter if he provides you with a list of the songs, that wouldn't make it legal.I'm sorry, and I wish I had better news for you.I realize that this answer may not be entirely to your liking, and I regret being the bearer of information that you really don’t want to hear. But it would be unfair to you and unprofessional of me if I were to provide you with anything less than truthful and honest information.If you're satisfied with the results of your question, then I'll ask you to please provide positive feedback so that I will get credit for the time spent on your question.
Experience: I did my law degree at the University of Queensland