NEWS BULLETIN
increases in the county (barbershops, movie thea-
ters, etc.). Therefore, operators weren't prepared for
the Oct. 10 hike.
Under the new ordinance-which only applies to
unincorporated areas within the county-operators
must pay $251 for every game or jukebox for the first
year and $169 per machine to renew. The previous
renewal fee was $68 per game. Also, new game ar-
cades pay $1 ,464 for the first year, renewing at
$199.
"The law says that business licenses are sup-
posed to be revenue-neutral, not revenue-generat-
ing," Jackson explained . "I don't think the commis-
sioners who voted realized that operators might
have four to six new games per location. I know it
doesn't cost the county that much to license that one
location; they cannot justify these charges. I believe
they reviewed business fees in other counties and
figured they could raise them $100 across the board.
The problem is they didn't compare the license fees
for video games in those counties."
In Alameda County, for example, operators pay a
flat fee of $60 per amusement device. Clark County
has a $50 fee for the first 25 machines, with a $2
charge for any subsequent ones . San Diego County
levies a $30 fee per machine, plus $4 per employee.
AAC has retained David Hagen from the law firm
of Merritt and Hagen; he'll serve as legal coordinator
for the association's efforts.
" Even though it's already been enacted, we're
setting up appointments with the individual commis-
sioners to see if we can do something about it,"
Jackson said. " I'm not personally affected, because
I don 't operate in any unincorporated areas in Los
Angeles County. But if I and other operators ignore
it, something similar could pass that may hit us
where we do operate. Besides, this is an ideal issue
for an association to tackle.''
• California isn't the only state with license fee
woes. Operators in the city of Baltimore, Md., were
socked with a $150 increase in October; it went from
$300 per machine to $450.
" The city council is always trying to scratch up
some tax money, and again, they seem to think
we're a nice, easy target,'' said T.P. Foley, president
of the Maryland Amusement Operators Association
(MAOA). "It was one of those midnight, hurry-up
deals; we were caught off-guard. A number of Balti-
more operators are screaming about it. They're hav-
ing to auction off a lot of their games because they
can't afford the fees. And in the long run, the city is
going to end up losing money with less machines out
there."
Foley added that MAOA is trying hard to have the
fee increase rescinded, but he realizes that once a
tax is enacted, doing so is a difficult task.
Said J.P. Schumacker of Fair Lanes Inc. in Balti-
more, "This is quite a significant problem for the
operator and the customer. It severely curtails our
ability to purchase new equipment, so we in the
Baltimore market are put at a d isadvantage. It's like
hitting us with a sin tax similar to cigarettes and
alcohol. Why lump video games in with those two? If
they want to enact controls on video games, do so.
But don't try to get at us through big, unfair fee
hikes."
• Operators have until Dec. 29 to donate games to
their local Ronald McDonald House, as that is the
closing date for the AAMAIAMOA-sponsored pro-
gram. The coin-op industry has brought joy to fami-
lies of sick children during 1989, donating or pledg-
ing to donate equipment to over 75 houses nation-
wide. But there are still those seeking equipment
who haven't been contacted by local operators.
Those interested in this worthwhile project can call
Jim Stansfield at (608) 782-7181 .
• A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunc-
tion to halt the misappropriation of Nintendo game
products by Jackson, Miss.-based Larry and Charlie
Game Sales and its principal , Larry Macaluso. The
company had been accused by Nintendo of copyr-
ight and trademark infringement, based on their
alteration and sale of Nintendo Entertainment Sys-
tem (NES) products as coin-operated video games.
The judge deemed this to be in violation of Ninten-
do's exclusive copyright and trademark interests.
According to the complaint, Larry and Charlie
Game Sales unlawfully modified NES console units
for use as coin-op video games, then sold such
systems under the trade name " Video Master II. "
The injunction bars the defendants from selling any
NES hardware or software as a part of any coin-op
video games. It also prohibits them from selling any
video game under the " Video Master II" name.
"We are pleased with the outcome of this action,''
said Howard Lincoln, Nintendo's senior vice presi-
dent. "We will continue discovery in this case to
determine damages due Nintendo and to identify
and halt the use of any of these illegal products that -
may have already reached the marketplace."
PLAY METER, December, 1989. Volume 15, No. 12. Copyright 1989 by Skybird Publishing Company. PLAY METER (ISSN 0162-1343) (UPS
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4 PLAY METER/December 1989