HEWS
AMU FIGHTS JUKEBIX·LICENSE
ELIMlllA 11111
T
he Amusement and Music Opera-
tors of America (AMOA) is urg-
ing its members to write their
representatives in Congress "with this
simple message: The compulsory
license for jukeboxes must be
retained!"
The request is in response to leg-
islation "introduced to eliminate the
compulsory license for jukeboxes in
order to make U.S. copyright law
compatible with the Berne Convention
for the Protection of Literary and
Artistic Works, a century-old interna-
tional agreement that governs the
treatment of copyrighted material in
countries other than the country of
origin."
According to the AMOA, the Senate
next year will consider whether the
U.S. should join the Berne Convention.
As a prerequisite to joining, according
to the association, domestic U.S. law
must be made "compatible" with the
convention, and that would require
elimination of the compulsory jukebox
license.
In its request that members voice
opposition to elimination of the com-
pulsory license, the AMOA said that
without the license individual royalty
agreements could be required, opera-
tors would be "wide open to legal
actions for copyright infringement,"
and performing-rights societies would
have a better chance to collect more
money from operators.
The AMOA asked that operators
who write their Congressional repre-
sentatives forward a copy to the
AMOA Government Relations Office at
1101 Connecticut Ave. .W., Suite 700,
Washington, D.C. 20036. Operators
also were encouraged to call Mark
8 P!AY METER/ October 1986
Griffiths of the Washington office at
(202) 857-1127 with "questions, com-
ments, or suggestions."
CIAllE MERCHAllllSERS
APP•VAlS, ACT•llS
B
etson Enterprises has reported
that its California version of the
Big Choice skill crane has been
approved as a skill game in all parts
of the country where it has been
challenged.
The joystick skill version of Big
Choice allows sufficient player control
to qualify it as a skill game, accord-
ing to the company, which reports the
merchandiser has been approved by
the New York City Department of
Affairs, in Los Angeles
Consumer
and San Diego counties in California,
in the states of Massachusetts and
South Carolina, and, on September 4,
by the License Appeals Board of Phoe-
nix, Ariz.
In Phoenix, the board determined
that the crane did not meet the
state's criteria for gambling devices.
Local police, basing their opinion on a
1957 Arizona Supreme Court decision
involving another crane game, origi-
nally had recommended that the game
not be licensed.
Bob Snyder of the Walnut, Califor-
nia -:based gaming consulting firm of
Bob Snyder and Associates, Inc.,
appeared before the board on behalf
of a local arcade and explained
improvements in features of the crane,
such as claw size and prize accessibil-
ity, that make skill the determining
factor in player success. The inade-
quacy of a crane 20 years ago
prompted the state to consider the
crane essentially a "slot machine." The
board's favorable ruling permits the
licensing of Big Choice for Phoenix
arcades.
Betson is the exclusive distributor
of the cranes.
UAI New Jersey, Inc., has reported
that the Skill Crane manufactured by
Segasa (dba Sonic of Madrid, Spain)
was placed on the "approved list of
games" on September 26 by the New
York City Department of Consumer
Affairs. The game is licensed for use
in New York City in amusement
arcades only.
UAI is the sole distributor of Skill
Crane.
The issue of crane legality, how-
ever, is not free of controversy. There
have been assertions and counter-as-
sertions recently, including for
example, a claim that Big Choice is
not approved in San Diego county.
S_nyder pointed out that much of the
problem is semantics. Legality and
approval, he said, are not necessarily
the same thing.
Police often shy away from
approving crane merchandisers, Snyder
said. It's not their job to issue
approvals, he said. And if police sanc-
tion the operation of a crane, and
the operation of that crane becomes
the subject of litigation in another
jurisdiction, the approving police offi-
cials may find themselves pitted
against disapproving police officials in
the other jurisdiction. They don't want
that to happen.
In addition, Snyder explained,
cranes per se are not illegal in Cali-
fornia. They become illegal only if
they, as in Phoenix, fit the state law's
definition of a "slot machine," that
is, the outcome of the play is deter-
mined by chance.
Big Choice was, in fact, scrutinized,
tested, and played in National City in
San Diego County, Snyder said, in the
presence of a San Diego police officer
and a county deputy sheriff. And,