ILLS FOR Tl ELY EFFORT
,On JUKEBOK BILL
U
. .
Repre enrarive John
Breaux rold a packed house
ar rhe A mu emenr and
Music Operators Association annual
member hip meeting Ocrober 28
rhar rhe attemp t ro rem impending
jukebox roy alry increa e only can be
succe ful if ope rators Launch a
m assive lobbying effort.
"The merits and argument are
o n ur ide," the Loui iana repre-
sentative aid as he addre ed rhe
ope ning se ion of the 1983 Inter-
national Expo irion in New Orlean ,
" bur it i nor goi ng ro be an easy
rhing ro accomp li h. "
Breaux and Nebraska enaror
Edwarrl Zorinsky, aurhor of rhe
"Coi n- perared Phonorecord Play-
er Copyright Act of 1983" (
17 34), were keynote speaker enlist-
ing the active upport of AMOA
member in gening rhe legi !arion
pas ed . Jukebox o peraror , rhey
proposed, h ou ld conracr, and
influence their locations to co ntact,
their congressiona l representatives.
The legi !arion would establish a
one rime $50 roya lty payment on all
jukeboxe ro be paid by rhe m anu -
facturer (or importer). T o cover rh ar
ex pen e, rhe manufacturer would
add $50 to rhe price of each phono-
graph.
A seco nd tier of rhe com pulsory
licen e revi ion bill provide for rhe
licen ing of jukeboxes so ld before
rhe enactment of the legi !arion.
Operaror would pay a one rime fee
of up ro .S 25 per box, according ro its
remaining life expectancy.
Under rhe present law, jukebox
10
BY MIKE SHAW
fees have climbed to 50 annually
per box (as of January 1, 1984).
Monitoring the CRT
Breaux , who introduced Zorin-
sky' bill in the Hou e, claimed rhe
Copyright Royalty Tribun al, which
set the royalty fee schedule in 1980,
"ha not worked like Congre s
wanted it ro" when Congre vored
the CRT into existence in 1976. He
said Congre s had created rhe CRT
merely ro see ro it that roy alty collec-
tion were dispersed fairly among
various arti ts' socierie . ongress
has fai led to monitor the CRT's
action and digressions since irs
creation, he said .
"Increa ing jukebox fees by more
than 500 percent when prof irs are so
low is ridiculous ," Breaux aid ,
summing up hi view of the CRT
deci ion.
Breaux voted for the increases in
royalty fees in 1980, but only because
he was unaware of any opposition ro
them, he said, and ha rever ed hi
position since le arning rhe jukebox
operator · side of the i ue. " I came
back home to find there were a lot
more jukebox operatOr in my
district than there were song writers
or recording arri rs ," Bre aux
quipped.
Zorin ky , a former Nebra ka
operator, ca me ro the AMOA mem-
bership meeting ro seek active
support for his bill. ( H .Z . Vending,
founded by Zorinsky' father, still
operates in Omaha .) Zorinsky asked
each jukebox operator ro write rhree
letter requesting pa age of rhe
bill-o ne ro each of hi stare' U ..
naror and one to hi di trier'
.. Repre entarive. (Th r
a
petition operator can post near
their phonographs on rh e next
page. )
The bill is with rhe enare ub-
commirree on Parent
opyrighr
and Trademark , and, according ro
Zorin ky, is likely ro be considered
for pa age our of th at co mminee
soon.
" Whil e I compliment AMOA
members for mo ing ro get con-
gre ional pon or for rhi legi !a-
rion ( urrently , the bill ha 13 co-
ponsors in rhe enare a nd 20 in rhe
H ous .), I urge your continuing
lobbyi ng effort ," he pleaded.
Zorinsky projected the legislatio n
co uld be con idered by the ub-
comminee a ea rly a N vember,
bur
o ngre
rece ed fo r rhe
holid ay ea on wirhour co nsidering
rhe i sue. According ro AMOA
arrorney Bob chuckman, earlie r
con ider a ri on would occ ur in
Februa ry .
Fair treatment
upporrer of rhe bill claim ir
would mean more equitable rrear-
ment of jukebox operator who have
reported ex trem ely low profit from
rheir boxe in recent years . They
al o believe rhe bill would eliminate
probl m wirh getting jukebox
operators ro comply wirh registra-
tion requirement .
"Jukebox regi rrarion has drop-
ped by 0 percent ince fee were
rai ed (from 8 annually to S25 in
198 2 then ro 50 in 19 ), and rhe
PLAY METER. December 3 1. 1983