Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
so
REVIEW
JUNE 25, 1921
CONDUCTED BY V. D. WALSH
DEALERS INDICTED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Boston Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictments Against Two Local Music Dealers Charged With
Violating Copyright Law on "Whispering," "Humming" and "Bright Eyes"
The Federal Grand Jury in Boston, Mass., on
Friday of last week returned an indictment
against Charles H. McGlue, head of the New
England Music Co., Boston, Mass., and August
H. Sullivan, a New England music dealer, in
which ihey are criminally charged with in-
fringing the copyright of several songs, includ-
ing "Whispering," "Humming" and "Bright
Eyes," by printing, trading in and selling such
titles.
The above indictment marks the culmination
of what is said to have been one of the most
flagrant cases of copyright infringement in the
history of the music publishing business. The
methods used and pursued in the printing, dis-
tributing and covering the activities of the guilty
parties were so involved and so cleverly and
shrewdly carried out as to almost make their
work impossible of detection, according to the
complaint.
Over 70,000 copies of "Whispering," it is
charged, have been illegally printed and sold,
20,000 copies of "Humming" and 10,000 copies of
"Bright Eyes."
It is charged that McGlue and Sullivan formed
a distributing firm known as the Empire Music
Co. and rented quarters adjacent to the distribut-
ing offices of the New England Music Co., in
which, as noted above, McGlue is also interested.
The Empire Music Co., in order to quickly
capitalize the sales possibilities of the song num-
bers printed without attracting attention to the
unusual stock, sent notifications to large dealers
and distributors in centrally located parts of
the country that they had a surplus of such songs
as -"Whispering," etc., and that they would be
willing and were anxious to trade such material
for other current hits. Naturally, their offer was
quickly taken up by innocent parties and the
consequences were they had almost national
distribution on spurious works.
In addition to the above, as announced in last
week's Review, Sherman, Clay & Co., of San
Francisco, have brought a bill in equity in the
Federal Court in Boston, Mass , alleging that
the New England Music Co. has in its possession
500 infringing copies of the song "Whispering,"
and that Goodman Bros., a printing organiza-
tion, is also in possession of 100 copies, as well
as a set of plates and other material used in
printing this music. The damages are said to
be $5,000.
E. C. Mills, chairman of the board of direc-
tors of the Music Publishers' Protective Asso-
ciation, has been following up the activities of
McGlue and the concerns in which he is inter-
ested for the past two months and he can be
congratulated upon what can be considered
bringing the case to a successful conclusion.
The trade will certainly be interested in the ac-
tivities of those involved in the present case
and the affair further emphasizes the necessity
of dealers procuring their stocks from reliable
sources.
MUSIC FOR BRITISH PROPAGANDA
At British Musical Congress It Is Urged That
Government Set to Work to Introduce and
Popularize British Music in Foreign Lands
Music as an aid to British propaganda was
urged at the first meeting of the British Musical
Congress at which a resolution was proposed
that the British Government should make an an-
nual grant to disseminate music of British com-
posers abroad, says a dispatch to the New York
World. Dr. Walter Damrosch, conductor of the
New York Symphony Orchestra, supported the
proposal, saying that while the British very sym-
pathetically received American musicians the
Government would do well to follow the exam-
ple of the French Government, which sends its
finest artists to play French music in the United
States.
Mr. Goosens Young, an English composer,
quoted as a horrible example the fact that when
organizers of a continental festival sent for a
representative British work they received the
score of "Chu Chin Chow."
Bernard Shaw also supported the propagandist
idea, arguing that commercial propaganda had
been successful abroad and that what was useful
in the case of cheese and apples should.be equally
productive for artistic products, but he warned
the meeting that if the Government took a hand
they "might give some of those dreadful pro-
vincial festival cantatas or oratorios formerly
considered typical of English art." He said
Elgar was England's first composer and added:
"I only wish the English would give up poli-
tics, for which they have no capacity whatever,
and take to music, for which they are quite ex-
traordinarily gifted."
The proposal gained unanimous support from
the gathering.
SONGS THAT SELL
My Mammy
Rosle
(Make It Rosy for Me)
Home Again Blues
I Like It
I Wonder Where
My Sweet, Sweet Daddy's Gone
D r o w s y Head
Who'll Dry Your Tears
'Sippy Shore
The Last Little Mile
Oh, My Sweet Hortense
Someone Else
The Passion Flower
Beautiiul Faces
Irving Berlin's Latest
Overnight Hit
AH by Myself
IRVING BERLIN, Inc.
1587 Broadway, New York
EXPLOITING $15,000 SONG
The Broadway Music Corp. is making a hig
sales and professional drive on the novelty bal-
lad and "cheer-up song," "My Sunnysidc Sal,"
which it recently purchased from Kendis &
trockman for a sum said to be $15,000.
Ted Fiorito, the writer of "Love Bird," pub-
lished by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc., has just
signed a two-year contract to write exclusively
for the above house.
USINESS is good with the dealer who carries stock that is called for
Order a supply of these today from us or your jobber..
1
HESE SONGS
. THE PUBLIC
WANT
i
:
Sweet Love
Ear all Talking Machines and Player-Pianos
Song—A Wonderful Seller—For all
Player-Pianos and Talking Machines
This is the favorite waltz of
all prominent orchestra leaders
Published 6//
1015 Walnut Street
Kansas City, Mo.