Play Meter

Jukebox compromise reached
The Amusement and Music
Operators Association (AMOA) and
the performing rights organizations
(BMI, SESAC, and ASCAP) reached
an agreement in principal on April
17 concerning the compulsory juke-
box license fees imposed on juke-
box operators in 1978, but jukebox
operators are less than enthusiastic
with the agreement.
The agreement, signed on May
13 in a Washington D .C. ceremony
presided over by Representative
Robert W . Kastenmeier, chairman
of the House judiciary subcommit-
tee, ended a turbulent battle in
which AMOA , representing the
jukebox operators, questioned the
fairness of the license fee, fought to
have it abolished , then agreed to a
compromise for reasonable fees .
The accord allows a 20 percent
($10) rebate in 1985 and 1986 to juke-
box owners who have paid the $50
license fee. In 1987, when the license
fee will be at least $60, a rebate will
be allowed for any amount over
that, provided at least 110,000 juke-
boxes are registered by the end of
the year. The rebate will be similar in
1988 only if 115,000 jukeboxes are
registered by the end of that year .
The agreement also set up a
mechanism for future compromises
between the parties.
The AMOA (MOA at that time)
was formed in 1949 to fight the
threat of losing the exemption juke-
box operators had against paying a
royalty fee. The exemption remained
intact until Congress revamped the
entire Copyright law in 1976. The
exemption had been in effect since
1909.
10
AMOA was unable to maintain
the jukebox exemption, and Con -
gress decreed operators pay a com-
pulsory jukebox license fee which
would be paid to the performing
rights societies for the operators'
commercial use of the songwriters'
intellectual property. The Copyright
Royalty Tribunal , a governamental
body set up by Congress to adjudi-
_cate jukebox copyright fees, raised
the per-jukebox fee from the initial
$8 in 1978 to $50 in 1984.
However, that increase was not
related to the profitability of
operating jukeboxes commercially .
Erratum
In an advertisement in the
May 15 issue, Play Meter maga-
zine wrontly included a toll-free
telephone number for operators
to call for information about the
new Triv-Quiz II video trivia
game from Status Game Corp.
of Newington, Connecticut.
This was in error.
Status Game Corp. does not
have a toll-free number.
Operators who may have
called the toll-free number
erroneously should note that
there is only one Triv-Quiz II
video trivia game , and the
correct telephone number for
factory information about that
product is available only by
calling 203/ 666-1960.
Play Meter apologizes to
Status Game Corp. and to its
customers whom our error may
have confused.
•
For Play Meter magazine ' s
annual operators' survey in 1978
showed the average weekly gross on
a jukebox was $52. And operators
were being required to pay an $8
fee. Then in 1984, when the per
jukebox rate was increased to $50 ,
Play Meter's survey showed opera-
tors averaging a weekly gross on
their jukeboxes of $40 .
The declining profitability of
jukebox operators was reflected in a
continuing decline in the number of
jukeboxes licensed by the federal
government. In 1978, 143,396 juke -
boxes were registered with the
copyright office. However, the
number was down to 103,062 in
1984. But the copyright office and
the performing rights societies
maintain that the decline reflects a
growing number of operators not
registering their jukeboxes. So the
new agreement between the AMOA
and the performing rights societies
included the quota of registrations.
Prior to that agreement, U .S.
Representative John Breaux of
Louisiana and Senator Ed Zorinsky
of Nebraska introduced a bill to
Kasten meier' s judiciary subcommit-
tee for final resolution . Kasten meier,
who had stated he disagreed with
the Copyright Tribunal ' s decision to
raise the fee from $8 to $50, pushed
for a compromise resolution be-
tween the parties through negoti-
ations in place of the Breaux/Zorinsky
bill .
The Breaux/ Zorinsky bill called
for a one time $50 royalty fee on new
jukeboxes and a one time $25 fee on
used. AMOA and the performing
rights societies met on numerous
PLAY METER. June 1 5, 1965
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