Posted on: November 22, 2023, 05:58h. 

Last updated on: November 22, 2023, 05:58h.

Kamu Ultra Karaoke, located in the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, is facing a $264M lawsuit from an LA-based record company.

Universal Music Group’s Sybersound Records claims that the Vegas Strip lounge is illegally streaming its licensed instrumental music for free through YouTube.

Sybersound, owner of Party Tyme Karaoke, holds an instrumental catalog of 75K hit songs. Their lawsuit claims that Kamu has played Sybersound’s copyrighted catalog without permission since July 2020. The lawsuit seeks $264 million in damages and attorney’s fees.

The 17k square-foot lounge operates 40 different rooms, some of which charge $4K a night for parties after 10 p.m. The lawsuit also asks the court for a restraining order against Kamu Ultra Karaoke’s further use of its material.

“Individuals can enjoy Party Tyme and other karaoke content through YouTube in their own homes and at their own private events,” said Peter Haviland, counsel for Sybersound Records, in a statement. “Commercial businesses, on the other hand, cannot exploit this content and make big profits from it without paying a fair subscription license for that commercial use.”

Name Game

The copyright infringement lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Central District of California, names Kamu Ultra Karaoke, club owner Jeff Kim, Venetian parent company Apollo Global Management, and Grand Canal Shoppes operator Brookfield Properties.

A spokesperson for Apollo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the naming of Apollo or The Venetian in the lawsuit was “a blatant grab for publicity,” since neither entity owns, operates, or controls the Grand Canal Shoppes or its tenants.