c~an~e the .law, they have to know something is wrong
With .It. T~Is should be the purpose of the first such
meetmg with your congressmen : let him know there are
prob!ems with the law, and try to be as specific as
possible.
As for specifics, here are the major points touched on
with Louisi•:ma's congressional delegation. These points
have n:et with a fa~orable response and should be point-
ed out m any meetmgs with congressmen concerning the
law:
PROB~EM #1: Jukebox operators are paying twice
for the nght to use the copyrighted works
Among copyright users, they are alone in this double
dipping dilemma. They pay (a) a "mechanical royalty" fee
which is built into the price of each record and which was
recently increased by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal
(CRT) from 5~ cents per record to 8 cents per record·
~nd (b) a per-jukebox asessment which the CRT recent!~
mcreaed from $8 per-jukebox to $25 in 1982 and $50 in
1984 and even higher (according to the Consumer Price
Index) in 1987. The combination of these two copyright
assessments has made the operation of the jukeboxes
virtually unprofitable.
SUGGESTION #1: Eliminate the per-jukebox
assessment.
The congressionally-approved $8 per-jukebox fee was
only agreeable to the jukebox industry as a compromise
measure which would have stipulated that the $8 per-
jukebox assessment be the be-ali and the end-all of any
further copyright demands by the performing rights
societies. A continually escalating per-jukebox fee is
unacceptable to operators and threatens to make the
operation of jukebox totally unprofitable. Since
jukebox operators have been paying copyright owners
far above the norm through the mechanical royalty
assessment already, there is no need for a second such
$8 per-jukebox assessment: A compromise
measure only agreeable as a be-all and end-all
future copyright demands.
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assessment. Because of the nature of the jukebox
business, an operator does not buy a record just one
time. He buys it 20, 50, even 100 times depending upon
the number of jukeboxes he has programmed that
record for. So he is already making a copyright payment
of 20, 50, or 100 times more for the right to use that copy-
righted work for profit. Surely, this multiple payment
should be enough. According to Play Meter magazine's
annual industry survey, the average operator buys 3.3
records per week per jukebox; so the average operator is
already paying about $13.75 in royalty payments per
jukebox per year.
PROBLEM #2: The jukebox copyright law has also
placed operators in the compromising position of having
to divulge confidentail business information.
The law, besides assessing a second superfluous
payment for copyrights, has apparently empowered the
CRT to require operators to supply them with a list of
their jukebox locations. Now although operators have
argued strenuously against the location list requirement
promulgated by the CRT and have even appealed it
through the court system, the CRT has steadfastly
maintained that it has the authority to require the lists to
remain in compliance with the law. However, the CRT
PLAY METER , june 15, 1981
Standard Change-Makers , known since 1955 for the
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5
tandard
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422 E. New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Tel: (317) 639-3423
District sales offices in 14
cities throughout U.S. and
Canada. Factory service
centers at Indianapolis,
Philadelphia and
Los Angeles.
13