Play Meter

operating
Coin-op support for $8 royalty fee may
flee if Congress presses revision
Coin industry support for the pre-
viously agreed upon $8 jukebox per-
formance royalty rate could vanish
this year if Congress presses for a
higher rate or the subjection of the
rate to review by the proposed Copy-
right TribunaL
Nicholas E. Allen, counsel for the
Music Operators of Amer ica, cau -
tioned Sen . John L. McClellan, pro-
ponent of a much h igher rate, that
there are still many within the jukebox
industry who "vigorously oppose con -
ceding any p~rformance royalty to
copyright owners. Any new proposal
to increase the royalty rate, or to
su bject to further revision, would su b-
stantiall y intensify that opposition and
severel y strain the ability of the in-
dustry's leaders to preserve support for
the prov isions of the bill as they have
been agreed to. We earnestly hope
your committee will see fit to leave
unchanged the provisions of the pres-
en t bill relating to the jukebox in-
dustry. "
McClellan prompted Allen 's cau -
tionary words on behalf of the coin
amusement industry when McClellan
asked concerned parties to comment
on a suggested increase in the rate to
near $20 per box per year . McClellan's
Subcommittee on Copyrights, Patents
and Trademarks will hold hearings this
spring on rev isions to the copyright
law and in a letter to music publishers
and jukebox in terests in late Novem-
ber, the A rkansas Democrat contended
that because the jukebox rate may be
frozen into the bill, the su bcomm ittee
must fix a fee that is reasonable under
the economic conditions prevailing
presently . A higher rate is also called
for, the senator reasoned, because of
the Senate's vote last September to
exempt the jukebox rate from any
review by the Copyr ight Tribunal,
which oversees statu tory rates in U .S.
copyright law and has revision powers.
While there is no set date for Senate
hearings to begin on the bill (S. 22).
the House plans to start subcommittee
hearings on its own, dupl icate bill
(H . R. 3333) in Apr il and MOA is
gearing up for a major legislative bat-
tle, according to Execut ive V ice Pres i-
dent Fred Granger. The mus ic pub-
lishers, of course, have favored a
higher rate and the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publ ishers
(ASCAP) strongly supports a higher
rate.
Lawyer Allen, though, contends the
$8 fee, which is still not yet law, will
produce a "fair enough return to
copyright owners from this indu stry of
small businessmen who serve as pro-
moters of records, while also be ing the
largest single indu stry consumer (user)
of records." The agreed upon per-
formance royalty would produce $4
million a year in addition to the $4 _5
million in mechan ical royalties on the
75 m illion records a year jukebox
operators now pay for .
" The jukebox ind ustr y has never
before been su bjected to copyright
performance royalties and any new
royalty will affect the indu stry," Allen
told McClellan, "and necessitate eco-
nom ic readjustments throughout the
industry ." The jukebox industry con -
ceded early in the congressional con-
siderations of copyright revision that it
should pay something more than the
mechanical royalty to prevent a fee set
beyond what the industry would be
willing to pay, Fred Granger said
recen tly . "We dec ided on a compro -
mise $8 fee," said Granger, "but that
is not yet law."
The House passed the revision bill
which contained the compromise fee
in 1967 and sent it on to the Senate
Judiciary Comm ittee, Granger re-
called, where Senate forces added on
$1 for perform ing artists, a 50 cents
registration fee and the per iodic review
provISion . MOA successfully com -
batted that issue because it considers
the add -ons dangerous to the in-
dustry's interests, Granger went on .
The battle erupted again in the Senate
last September and resulted in MOA
successfully keep ing out the amend -
ments.
But it now appears that certain
legislators are prepared to once again
battle jukebox interests to the benefit
of music composers and publ ishers
IS YOUR INCOME OFF?
You should be looking
at Kiddierama.
15