Classic Mode

Play Meter

Issue: 1974 December - Vol 1 Num 1

In 3D-year battle:
M OA copyright win apparent
WASH INGTON, D.C. - Officials
with the Music Operators of America
credited a "tremendous response"
from people in all facets of the music
and games industry for winning a
battle in the U .S. Senate recently in
the Bill for General Revision of the
Copyright Law.
"Everyth ing the M OA opposed was
defeated," said a recent newsletter to
MOA members.
The original Senate Bill (S. 1361)
contained several provIsions that
would have established a statutory
recording arts royalty, granted author·
ity for a Copyright Royalty Tribunal
to readjust the $8 performance royal ·
ty, and installed a 50c jukebox regis'
tration fee .
Senators Sam Ervin and Ernest Hol-
lings introduced amendments to the
bill , which were co-sponsored by
several other senators, on behalf of the
MO A.
Their amendments, which deleted
all the provisions opposed by MOA, all
passed, in a solid victory for the MOA.
The b ill went to the Senate floor
for debate on Friday, Sept. 6, and the
final vote came on Monday, Sept. 9, in
favor of the jukebox operators.
MOA officials offered their "heart-
felt thanks" to the people who respon-
ded to the ca ll and wrote letters and
made telephone calls to U .S. Senators
in protest to th e provisions.
Nicholas E. Allen represented MOA
in the legislative battle . He will report
on that battle at the upcoming MOA
Exposit ion General Membersh ip Meet-
ing on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Ch icago.
Ed itor's Note : Further remarks on
this story may be found in this issue in
Play Meter's "Co inman of the Month"
feature - an interview w i th Russell
Mawdsley , MOA president .
•••
La. appeals coin-op sales tax ruling
BATON ROUGE , LA . -
Argu-
ments are schedu led to be heard No-
vember 4 in a Lou isiana appeals court
over the legality of charging operators
in the state sales taxes on revenues
der ived f rom their amusement ma-
chines.
Already under appeal , the matter
will likely be finally dec ided in the
Lou isiana Supreme Court, according
to legal counsel for the operators .
Judge Luther F . Cole ruled in favor
of state operators when he quoted
from pr ior decisions in his 19th Ju-
d icial Court ruling, saying , "Tax laws
are to be liberally interpreted in favor
of the taxpayer and strictl y construed
against the taxing authority . Any
doubt or ambiguity is to be resolved in
favor of the t ax payer."
Judge Cole referred to the inter-
pretation of a state law recently ren-
derred by Lou isiana Collector of Reve-
nue Joseph N . Traigle. In letters issued
by Traigle's office on Sept. 24, 1973,
operators were informed that effective
Oct. 1, 1973, they wou Id be included
under the state sales tax law, in a
section that had in past years applied
only to admissions to places of amuse-
ment or athletic events; or for dues for
clubs which furnished amusement, ath-
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letic, recreational or amusement facil -
ities.
Traigle's action followed his own
interpretation of the law, in which he
indicated that the word, "facility,"
should be construed to include coin-
operated amusement machines.
Judge Cole agreed that Traigle has
the legal power to "reasonably"
interpret such laws in a 1962 state case
where the court ruled the Collector of
Revenue has the r ight to promulgate
reasonable rules and regulations for
the collection of state sales taxes, but
does not have the author ity to re o
define the statute to read as i t best
suits him.
I n render ing the lower court dec i-
sion, Judge Cole said he felt the word
"facility, " as commonly def ined in
dictionar ies, in other legal decisions,
and as previously used by the Louis-
iana Legislature, did not include
devices, equipment or machinery. If
the Lou isiana Legislature had intended
to tax coin -operated machines, Judge
Cole sa id, it would have so stated .
As Traigle's Sept. 24, 1973 letter
was interpreted by operators, they
were told to take 3 percent of the
gross receipts from coin -operated ma-
ch ines and submit that sum to the
Department of Public Revenue .
"Operators are still bound by law
to submi t the sales taxes to the state,"
said Lawrence L. Lagarde, legal coun-
sel for TAC Amusement Co ., pla intiffs
See T AX , Pg_ 48
6
PIAt'.-n:R
passing costs
( ont. from Page 5 )
"A service charge is wonderful, if
you can do it," Glass said . "But it 's
really very d iff icult. We haven ' t gone
into it yet ; we're just playing it by ear
for now."
He also cited operators who are
slow to change their pr icing as creators
of problems in that area .
"You get some operators who
won ' t go off three-for -a-quarter,"
Glass sa id. "That always creates a
problem. In fact, one operator in an
outlying area near he re called me and
asked me how I got my route to go to
two ·for-a-quarter; he sa id h is competi·
tor won't go to that and it's hurt ing
him .
" But there are other example s," he
said , " like the dart games. When they
first came out they made money at
one for a quarter, but now they don ' t
do anyth ing at all at that pr ice. So
operators are starting to put them out
for a d ime and they're making money
again. Instead of making $3 a week at
a quarter they're making $18 a week
at a d ime, so really ra ising pr ices isn' t
always the answer."
Glass also noted a problem with
location owners whose attitudes
toward operators' pr ice rai sing does
not correspond with their attitudes
toward other peopl e wi th w hom they
do bus iness.
"Some location owners don't want
you to ra ise your prices, but if the cost
of a case of beer goes up a dime,
they'll charge a nickel more for each
can and make $1 .20 extra for them-
selves," he bemoaned . "But if you
want to ra ise your prices on a jukebox
or something else, then it 's an entirely
d ifferent situation i n the ir way of
th inking. "
And perhaps the rei n I ies at least
part of the secre t for operators who
are trying to convince their locations
that they must get more money to
counteract rising opera t ing costs.
Meanwh ile, John Lotus of K ing-P in
Amusement Co . in Lans ing, M ich . said
he is offering h is locat ion owners a
chance for an added source of revenue,
per hap s to lighten the "st ing" of
changing h is commission arrange·
men ts.
Perhaps Ma lcol m K . Wallace, the
sole owner and operator of Novelty
Amu sement Co . in Newport, Vt ., had
th e best long·range planning idea of
anybody when he went into business
27 years ago .
"I never gave anybody 50 percent,"
he said . "I've always been 60-40 with
front money on music."
That front money arrangement
varies from locat ion to location, Wal -
lace said, depending on the number of
"wall boxes" at each location. He gets
$1 per month fo r each wall box. and if
there are none at a given location, he
" We il/te rn/pt tonigh t 's game to bring
yOIt a speciaL aI'lIIOUI/Cement from th e Wh ite House. '
operates at a straight 60-40.
He said h is machines are set at two
for a quarter and five for a half-dollar,
and "I don't intend upping that for
the present ; times are tough enough in
this country now.
From the survey, Play Meter found
that most operators feel changing com-
miss ions is the best way to combat
rising operat ing costs, simply because
upp ing pr ice s w i ll eventually result in
decreased play on location.
•••
fuel crunch
(Cont. from Page 5)
re-working her route that was echoed
by other operators throughout the
country.
"I have taken a long look at my
route and have tried to combine as
many trips to outlying areas as I can,"
said Mrs. Holl ingsworth, whose regular
route is largely rural.
"For instance, I have begun ser-
VICing locat ions in two outlying areas
every other week instead of once a
week, and am in that way saving
my self a trip."
Mr s. Holl ingsworth added that her
collections this year have been "run-
ning a fract ion lower, but it hasn't
hurt me much. "
While most operators interviewed
agreed with Mrs. Holl ingsworth that
their collections in 1974 had either
not dropped substant ia lly or were ac-
tually running ahead of 1973, other
operators haven 't been so l ucky.
Among operators who have felt the
fuel squeeze in collect ions were those
whose routes depend ma inly on resort
areas.
Malcolm K . Wallace of the Novelty
Amusement Co . i n New port, Vt ., the
so le owner and operator of h is music
and games concern, is an example of
an operator who has been drastically
affected by the problem .
"Some locations are off as much as
50 percent from last year ' s collec-
tions," Wallace said .
He blamed much of that bad year
on resort locations that si mply didn't
have the visi to rs they had a year ago.
But he qu ickly added that the Ver-
mont weather th is summer has left
much to be des ired.
" All we had all summer was rain,
rain, rain and very cool nights," he
said .
Wallace was hop ing to make up
some of the lost re venues with summer
ski resort business, which is beg inn ing
now.
• ••
7

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