Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

WASHINGTON,
'
D
.C.
---------1
Reported by
1
ROY S. RAMSEY, JR. - - - - - - - -
'Thos e Copyright Bills
While the music machine trade was con-
,gratulating itself for stalling off the Scott-
Tellows bills, . the American Society of
'Composers, Authors, and Publishers was
.quietly 1ft work, with the net result that a
House Judiciary subcommittee has ap-
proved the Scott version and turned it
-over to th e full committee with a recom-
mendation for passage.
The official subcommittee vote on the
'measure was not revealed, but this re-
porter has learned that the legislation
-slipped by with a narrow 3-2 majority.
"Thus, a vote switch by a single Congress·
man would have killed the Scott Bill for
this session at least. ASCAP was aware
-of this factor and continued pressure on
'the subcommittee after music machine op-
·erators had relaxed their fight against the
·measure.
The bill is considered of minor import·
,ance in Congress, dealing as it does with
a single industry. At the same time, its
barmful effect on that industry is self-
evident. The Scott Bill removes the ex-
.emption from the copyright act that coin
phonographs have enjoyed since 1909. In
plainer language, passage of the Scott BilL
'would mean that every operator would be
forced to pay a fe e to the copyright·holder
-for every record used in his machines.
ASCAP representative Gene Buck made
the organization's plan fairly plain at
bearings last summer. He told the suh-
·'Committee that _ ASCAP would license
,-every operator to use its music in the
'same way as it licenses theaters and radio
·stations. The license fee was unspecified,
although Buck claimed it would be "rea-
,sonable." However, the measure would
leave the trade open to raids by other
groups as well as AS CAP. There is a
music group called Broadcast Music, Inc.
(BM!) . This organization also holds a
number of record copyrights. Various
music publishers and songwriters hold
·other copyrights. If the bill is enacted,
·every one of these copyright holders could
bargain with the Industry for license fees.
'If an operator balked at paying these vari-
-ous fees, he would be barred from using
any disc "owned" by such group or indi-
'vidual. An operator who decided to pay no
fees would find he could obtain no records
for his machines without leaving himself
subject to a law suit.
Of course, it must be remembered that
at this writing the bill has passed only the
first Congressional hurdle. It must pass
the full House Judiciary Committee, the
House, the Senate Judiciary Committee,
and the Senate-as well as receive the
President's signature before becoming law.
On the other hand, similar measures have
been introduced during the past decade,
and the Scott Bill is the only one to have
obtained any sort of approval. Make no
mistake-ASCAP is a powerful, well-or-
ganized group, and it is backing the Scott
Bill to the limit. Indifference on the part
of the music machine trade could be dis-
astrous.
For Extra Charges
The Scott Bill is not the only measure
that could play havoc with the music ma-
chines. Representative Carroll Kearns (R.,
Pa.) is backing one that would sharply
increase costs. The Kearns Bill would di-
vide discs into two groups-"home use"
and "commercial." Radio stations and
phonograph operators would be forced to
buy the second category at an increased
price. The extra money; under the Kearns
Bill, would be turned over to the Ameri-
can Federation of Musicians for its welfare
fund. Fortunately, this bill has little
chance of enactment. In the fight against
the Kearns Bill, the music trade has one
of the most powerful allies it could hope
for-the National Association of Broad-
casters. NAB has no intention of sitting
by idly while a measure increasing radio
sta tion costs waltzes serenely through
Congress. Most telling argument to be
raised against the Kearns Bill is that it
is in conflict with the Taft-Hartley Act,
which bans welfare funds unless jointly
administered by labor and management.
Despite the indications that the measure
is foredoomed to perish, the Industry would
do well to keep a watchful eye on it.
Federal Tax Reports
There is certain sameness about the
monthly tax reports of the Bureau of In-
ternal Revenue. No matter how other ex-
cises flu ctuate, coin machine receipts con-
tinue to show the same downward trend.
Though excise tax reports are admittedly
a poor criterion, the monotonous similarity
of coin machine statistics plainly points
to two facts: there are fewer machines
in operation today than there were at this
time last year, and there were fewer ma-
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chi nes being operated last year than the
year before.
Month-by-month comparisons tell the
tale. February coin machine taxes were
less than February, 1947. In turn, F eb-
r uary, 1947, receipts were less than those
for February, 1946. January followed the
same trend. The statistics, however, can-
not be trusted too closely regarding indi-
vidual groupings in the Industry. Because
of the wide variance in tax fees between
gaming and amusement devices, a decrease
in t~e number of gaming machines in op-
eratIOn would far outweigh an increase in
the amusement machin e category. This is
true because Internal Revenue lumps re-
turns from the $100 gaming tax together
with receipts from the $10 amusement de-
vice levy.
February coin machine taxes amounted
to $274,461 as compared with $320260 for
the previous February. Disc recei~ts were
also down with collections totaling $750,-
148. February, 1947 brought in $801,276.
At the same time, however, Uncle Sam's
total monthly kitty increased some $250 -
000,000, chiefly because of a spurt in i~­
come tax payments.
The Candy Trade
T he new code of practices for the whole-
sale candy trade is now law, having been
promulgated by Federal Trade Commission
April 2 to go into effect 30 days from that
date. The code lists 21 rules prohibiting
~ uch practices as misrepresentation, un-
Justified price discriminations, lottery
schemes, and use of loss leaders. A copy
may be obtained by writing FTC for Trade
Practice Rules for the Wholesale Confec-
tionery Industry. The co de represents a
triumph for the National Candy Whole-
salers Assn., which worked three years to
bring it about.
Dollar ;ales of confectionery manufac-
turers in February were 18 per cent above
F ebruary of last year and 5 per cent higher
than January sales, Commerce Department
reported recently. The data is based on
confidential reports submitted to Census
'Bureau by 325 candy manufacturers around
the country. Candy sales by the pound
were up 11 per cent over February 1947
Sales aI?ounted to $72,075,000, while th~
cumulatIve total for the first two months
of 1948 was $137,314,000. A continuation
of the present trend will set an all-time
yearly record for sales, the previous high
having been registered last year.
Sale of candy bars followed the over-all
upward pattern. Some 72,000,000 pounds
of bar candy with a wholesale value of
$30,352,000 ~ere sold during February, as
compared WIth sales of 60,000,000 pounds
worth $20,650,000 in the previous F eb-
ruary. Average wholesale price of a pound
of bar goo ds rose during the 12-month in-
terval from $.345 to $.423.
Such sugar consumers as soft drink bot-
tlers and candy makers are protesting
against an Agriculture Department cut in
the 1948 sugar quota, the National Candy
Wholesalers Assn. has announced. NCWA
joined other sugar users in a statemen t to
Secretary Clinton Anderson declaring that
they were "gravely concerned" over the
reduction of the quota from 7,800,000 tons
to 7,500,000 tons. It was pointed out th at
the actual supply situation demands a
quota of 8,500,000 tons-the amount sub-
mitted by the major sugar-using industries
as their estimate of requirements at hear-
ings last December before Agriculture's
Sugar Branch.
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