Play Meter

upon the CRT's infamous September
6 ruling which required operators to
give up their location lists ; and (3) the
copyright law just happened to be the
featured topic in the first part of the
seminar program scheduled for the
first day of the show .
In the past , the seminar program
had started after the close of the
exhibits on the first day ; but this year ,
in a schedule change, the seminar
program was pushed up prior to the
opening of the exhibits. In this cas , it
appeared as if that might have set the
tone for much of the rest of the show .
The two members on the copy-
right law panel at the seminar were
Susan Aramayo , chief of the li-
censing division , U .S . Copvriqht
Office ;
and
Nicholas
Allen ,
A.M.O .A. counsel. The A .M.O .A.'s
immediate past president , Garland
Garrett , chaired the procedings.
It was clear from the outset that
Aramayo was miscast in her role .
The operators interest was not in the
general area of copyright law com-
pliance - that is , how to file ,
common problems in filing , etc . The
operators' "beef" was with the most
recent ruling by the other federal
agency involved in this matter , the
CRT . And Aramayo more than once
had to remind everyone that the
location listing requirement did not
come out of her department but from
another federal agency . As it turned
out , the person who probably would
have been best cast to represent the
federal government on the panel was
PLAY METER, December, 1978
CRT Chairman , Thomas Brennan ,
whom PLAY METER interviewed
last month concerning the location
listing requirement.
This miscasting , at least in part,
can be attributed to the fact that the
pan el had been chosen before the
CRT made its infamous ruling .
Nevertheless , Aramayo gave a
short explanation as to why the
Copyright Office required certfied
checks ("because we have to invest
the money in the U.S . Treasury as
soon as possible , and the require -
ment of certified checks insures that
the money paid is collectible and
therefore guaranteed for investment
for the performing rights societies").
She also said that by the end of
this calendar year all operators will
have received copies of their pre-
vious jukebox filinqs . This , she said,
should help streamline operators'
filing procedures this year.
Nicholas Allen then took to the
stand and started off by intoning : "the
jukebox business has come of age . It
is now a federally -regulated busi-
ness ." He said that although location
lists were distasteful to everyone in
the room , it was now the law of the
land . Then he said the A.M.O .A.
had already brought suit against the
CRT challenging the right of that
agency to make such a demand .
Although the merits of that case are
still being studied , Allen said , the
federal judge had turned down an
A.M.O.A . request to enjoin the CRT
from requiring the location lists in the
interim . Allen did say, however, that
the CRT was compelled to keep the
location lists confidential , at least
until the court case is resolved.
At that , the discussion was opened
to the f1ooor .
The first operator who came to the
microphone, it appeared , set the
tone for nearly all the rest of the
questions . "Has anyone checked to
see if this is a good law?"
Allen responded by saying that, to
date , the law had not been tested on
its constitutionality (for more on the
constitutionality of the law , see PM ,
Nov ., pages 49-52) . This is a bad
law!" he shouted into the micro-
phone . "There have been bad laws in
the past , and they were repealed!
The Stamp Act was a bad law, and it
was repealed! Prohibition was a bad
law, and it was repealed! " The rest of
what he had to say was lost in a
thunderous applause .
Other operators came to the
microphone, but their statements
took the same turn :
"Le t 's go on the offensive!"
shouted one operator.
"Listen, fellows ," exhorted anoth-
er , "th is is our bread -and -butter!
We've got to make a stand on this!"
Another operator came to the
microphone and said he would
absolutely refuse to disclose his
location lists . I'll sell my route and get
out of the business first ," he said.
Another operator asked Allen
,
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