News briefs .... news briefs .... news I
..... The long-awaited decision of the Copyright Royalty Tribunal on per-jukebox
fees for the next decade was handed down Decenber 10, 1980. The $8 per-box fee
will renain in effect through 1981, then on January 1, 1982 will jump to $25 per
coin-operated phono. Two years later, the license fee will increase to $50 per
jukebox, and as of January 1, 1987, an inflationary adjustment will be made to
the $50 rate based on the consumer price index change from January 1981 to that
date, under the CRT decision announced by its Chairman Clarence James. Officials
of ASCAP, the performing rights society which appealed for an increase to $70
per jukebox, stated they were pleased with the higher scale and that "jukebox
operators can well afford this modest fee." A spokesnan for the AMOA, which had
fought to maintain the current $8 per-box fee, had no llnnediate comment on the
decision. However, all parties have the right to appeal to the U. S. Court of
Appeals within 30 days of the decision. Details will follow in PLAY METER's next
issue ...................................................................... .
. .. .. The selection of Norman Pink of Advance-Carter of Minneapolis, Minnesota,
as the new president of the AMOA was sanewhat of a surprise to industry people.
Traditionally, the incoming AMOA president moves up through the positions of
treasurer, secretary, and first vice president, in that order, before becoming
president of the national association. This tradition was abruptly changed this
year when the AMOA ooard of directors passed over James I. Mullins of Mullins
Amusement Company in Miruni, Florida, and nominated Pink for the position instead.
Pink had not served in any of the executive positions of the AMOA before. The
general mEmbership confirmed the nanination during the AMOA Show. PLAY METER
has learned the change was reportedly made following a disagreEment over the
N10A's decision not to allow Bob Stivers & Associates, a television production
conpany based in Hollywood, California, to co-sponsor AMOA' s jukebox awards
progrrun .................................................................... .
..... Following several reports of misleading and even fraudulent claims by
Kyoto Electric Company, a group of operators are seeking restitution. Kyoto--
which is based in Carson City, Nevada-- is offering conversion kits of popular
coin-op video grunes, but operators are reporting those kits are worthless.
Kyoto officials have been unavailable for comment and, in fact, have not even
been answering their telephone in recent days .............................. .
. ... . Gene Lipkin, co-president of Atari, Inc., a Sunnyvale, California manu-
facturing company, has resigned his position with Atari. The move was made
shortly after the MUA Show ................................................ .
112
PLAY METER. January . 1981