Continued from page 1
million . then doing the survey is not
feasible . On the other hand , if only a
small amount of money were
involved. then it would be worth it.' '
th e AS CAP spokesman said.
M eanwhile . operators continue to
lay out $8 per year in licensing fees
and disclose lists that . at the very
least , do not aid their operation .. . all
for the sake of the CRT ruling that
may or may not be necessary .
BMI. too. has not made use of the
location
listings.
although
BMI
Coun sel Edward W . Chapin said that
"we may very well in the future ."
When asked if it is certain that they
will be used. he replied. "We intend
to. but now wheth er we do or not ,
o nly th e future can tell. ··
That statement ca me from the
society which testifi ed the listings
were vital to ensure proper verifica -
tion of use of copyrighted material.
PLAY
METER
asked
Chapin
whether he thought it might be unfair
to req uire operators to pay an annual
fee and supply information which
may be detrimental to their business
survival - particularly
when
it's
questionable that it's necessary . " Not
at all." he said. " for the reasons that
we stated before the CRT ."
But. PLAY METER continued,
BMI w ent before the CRT and said
that th e listings were necessary and
that you must have them . Now you
say that th ey might not be necessary.
and in fact. they might not even be
used in the future . Chapin lamely
report ed that BMI hasn 't . but " that
doesn't m ean we won 't in the
future ."
The ASCAP spokesman felt the
listings requirements were entirely
the creation of the jukebox industry .
Why? " Operators may not realize ...
that it was the jukebox industry that
wanted a compulsory license." the
ASCAP spokesman noted . "If the
law had co me out the way ASCAP
wanted. th ere would have been no
specia l provision for jukebox opera-
tors. What would have happened is
that ASCAP would have sat down
with committee representatives of the
industry - the AMOA or others - and
wou ld have negotiated a voluntary
agreement w'hich th en would have
been worked out by negotiation . No
fo rms to fill o ut. no annual filings .
and no location list s. probably .,.
"So. I don't think jukebox opera-
to r (would have been saddled with
listings) if they hadn't desired com-
pulsory licensing ."
What ASCAP seems to have
forgott en. however. was the amount
of money the performing rights
ocieties wanted for use of copy-
right ed material - a total well over
$100 per jukebox . Operators were
fo rced to go to Congress to avoid the
exorbitant tax which would have
furth er shrunk th e already diminish-
ing ranks of jukebox operators.
Th e two major performing rights
societies voluntarily agreed to halving
most o f th e royalties from 1978 . But
were the two major performing rights
societies rea lly happy with the
arrangement?
ASCAP . at least. was . " ASCAP's
share of royalties was based on a
voluntary agreement with the other
performing rights societies. I don't
think we would characterize it as fair
or unfair . There were many con-
siderations in making the voluntary
agreement. including what a tribunal
proceedi ng would cost. and. all
things consid ered. our people and
th ose at BMI and SESAC though a
voluntary agreement was the best
way to split up the royalties ." th e
AS CAP attorney affirmed .
BMI. however. was not so sure
that the current plan would work in
th e future. " W e voluntarily agreed
with th e other two performing rights
organi za tio ns and so. since we did
voluntarily agree. we are satisfied .
But we took th e position that we
have m ore music than ASCAP on
th e jukeboxes : so we still feel if
th ere 'd been controversy, we'd have
gotten more than ASCAP . So. if
th ere is disagreement in th e future.
we want more than a 50-50 share."
Chapin said.
RT
Commissioner
Tho mas
Brennan noted that. of th e $1.1
million to tal royalties for '7 . $2.500
curr ntly was being held until a
dispute between th e three Am erican
ocie ti
and an Italian soc iety wa s
se ttl d . " Th e sum is being held in
abeya nce to settle th e claim of the
It alian Boo k Corporation . a small,
specia liz d perf orming rights society
which. a the name implies. licenses
Italian musical compositions . They
m ade a claim asking for $2.000 of
th e to tal distribution royalties. The
other three ocieties cont end that is
too much . N egotiations are under
way now but if the parti es can' t
agr e. we'll have to make som e
dispo iii n."
The ex tra $500. incid entally. is set
aside in case a hea ring is necessary.
A ccording to Brennan, the CRT
had no op erating exp enses. such as
o ffi ce pace. secretarial salaries. etc . .
that were deducted from th e royalti es
before th ey were distributed because
Congress provid ed that o nly mon ey
used in resolving disputes among
copyright o wn ers may be deducted.
In o th er relat ed news . the 1980
rate rev iew hearing is slated for
March 4 at an as yet undetermined
location in Washington . D.C .. al -
th o ugh "we never know from one
month to th e next whether one party
or aneth r might have valid reasons
to reque I a change." Bren nan said .
T o o perators who've m entioned
th e words " location listings" only
thro •Jgh clenched teeth ever since the
CRT ed ict mandating th em was
deliv red. the news that th e listings
weren't used in royalty distribution
fo r '78 is not a surprise. But perhaps
it may tir those who have yet to
become involved in th e fight to
action - and in that case. this latest
development may be an unexpect ed
ilver lin ing in mobilizing industry
sentimen t and reso urces.
Location owner, operator work together··successfully
Android Amusement Corpora -
tion of Arcadia . California, has
enco untered that most "rare bird" in
the coin -operated industry - a co-
operative location owner.
Gene Beley . of Android Amuse -
m ent Corporation. reports Ron
Rosen. owner of Rosie's Ice -Cream,
is one of the most cooperative
location owners he's met to date .
" He knows how to work with
younger customers, as well as the
older ones. producing an even mix of
ages in the store." Beley notes .
Rosen began his relationship with
Android when one game was
installed on his premises . The current
game strength is twelve , and includes
such games as Indy 400 , Space
Invaders . and Asteriods . among
others.
On e of Rosen 's oldest customers
pulled the parlor owner aside
recently to inquire if the game
machines were planned in his
original business concept.
" No," smiled Rosen . " but if it
weren 't for these games, there
wouldn't still be a business here . The
games more than pay my overhead."
Th e games. in fact. have enabled
Rosen to keep lower prices for his ice
cream products because of the
increased revenu es from games .
M oreov r , Rosen is a strong pro-
ponent of games in locations that
once were considered inappro-
priat e - " It's a lot easier,'' he says,
"a nd requires less labor and adminis-
tratio n ."