Is it fair for the government to force you to give them a list of your
locations? Of course not.
What a disadvantage it is for such a competitive industry to have its
customer lists a matter of public record . That's all the "rip-off" artists need
to completely squash the vibrancy of our industry . With location lists
available to them, the "blue suede shoe" boys will have handy reference
charts for sticking unsuspecting locations with sub-standard cocktail table
videos and pinballs to the tune of three and four thousand dollars a shot.
We are well aware of the adverse effects direct location selling has on
the industry. An operator who is ousted from a location by a direct sale not
only loses weekly income but also finds himself with excess equipment that
either has to be relocated, sold, or stored away.
The location owner, who thinks he has made a great deal, ends up
paying $8,000 or so for a couple of machines. When these pieces break
down , and he discovers that the people who sold them are "out of
business," he begins, belatedly, to see the light, and the inherent problems
of the "100 percent take" myth. He has been rudely awakened to the fact
that 100 percent of nothing is zero.
He further realizes that his regular customers are cheated by this
scheme. Where once sat a shining new Bally Playboy and a Midway Space
Invaders now sits two XYZ cocktail table games , broken . Even if the
machines keep working they will never gross enough to compare with the
revenues generated by Playboy and Space Invaders. The play appeal just
isn't there .
To worsen the situation, the baffled location owner will keep these
games until the termites devour them .
In the end , the players who were once accustomed to playing the
machines in that location become disenchanted with the whole idea of
coin-op entertainment, and the location owner, operator, and
manufacturer all share in the loss .
There is little doubt that location selling is one of the biggest threats
facing the industry. It hurts the legitimate manufacturer , the reputable
distributor, the hard-working operator, the unsuspecting location owner,
and the dedicated player.
The Amusement and Music Operators of America has now sent its legal
force to grapple with the Copyright Royalty Tribunal over these required
location listings . As is all too common within this industry , a few are
fighting a battle for all. That battle, which will be decided in the U. S.
Supreme Court , will cost more than $100,000-that is the cost of fighting
the federal government.
It has never been more imperative for the industry to unite itself and
concert its support for the AMOA in its legal effort against this grossly unfair
copyright law. On behalf of the entire industry I urge each of you to send a
contribution to the AMOA Legal Action Fund; 35 East Wacker Drive ;
Suite 1940; Chicago, Illinois 60601.
Remember, this is not the AMOA's problem . It is your problem . And
you must do something about it.
Ralph C. Lally II
Editor and Publisher
4
PLAY METER, June, 1979