Accompaniment track maker sues local karaoke jocks, clubs

The financial woes of a major karaoke accompaniment track producer have made their way to Las Vegas.

Slep-Tone Entertainment Corp., a Charlotte, N.C.-based producer of karaoke accompaniment tracks, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against more then three dozen local clubs and KJs, or karaoke jocks. The complaint, similar to others filed across the country, contends that users have illegally made copies of the tracks either for themselves or to give to others.

In court papers filed Thursday, Slep-Tone said its has invested about
$18 million over the years to create music-only discs. They have sold the songs across to a wide audience under the Sound Choice name.

The complaint contends that its trademark requires a KJ or bar to buy a Sound Choice system for every location. However, computers have made it easy to copy the discs, so that a chain of bars could get away with buying one system and illegally creating duplicates.

A single legitimate system can cost from $25,000 to $40,000, depending on the size of the song library.

As a result, the complaint says that Slep-Tone lost money on its most recent disc even though it is being played at more than 30,000 places. A pattern of similar losses going back several years has forced the company to cut its payroll from 75 people to fewer than 10Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.