Play Meter

UPDATE EDITION
November 1,1979
Volume 5 Number 20
ASCAP steps up campaign
The American Society of Com -
posers , Authors and Publishers
announced that it is accelerating its
campaign against unlicensed jukebox
operators by filing 35 lawsuits in
federal courts in 12 states- Califor-
nia , Florida , Georgia , Illinois , Michi-
gan , New Jersey , New York , North
Carolina , Oregon , Pennsylvania ,
Rhode Island , and Washington .
The plaintiffs are members of
ASCAP whose songs were played
without permission .
Ordinarily , music users such as
bars , restaurants , and taverns where
jukeboxes are of~en located enter
into voluntary license agreements
with ASCAP . The voluntary agree-
ment system does not apply to
jukebox performances because Con-
gress intervened and stipulated a
compulsory license for jukebox ope-
rators in the new copyright law . That
law became effective in 1978 .
Under the compulsory license sys-
tem , a jukebox operator may obtain
the right to perform all copyrighted
music for $8 per year per jukebox by
registering the jukebox with , and
paying the fee to , the United States
Copyright Office . Fees paid in
European countries range from
about $50 to several hundred dollars
per year per jukebox .
"Congress intended the jukebox
!
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industry to pay between $3 .2 million
and $4 million per year , based on the
jukebox industry's own estimate that
there were 400 ,000 or 500 ,000
jukeboxes in operation ," an AS CAP
spokesman said . The amount col-
lected in 1978 and 1979 is only
about $1 million per year. "Accord-
ingly ," said the spokesman , "com-
posers , authors and publishers of
music are losing literally millions of
dollars every year which Congress
intended us to receive . And we now
have to incur the expense of lawsuits
because of the jukebox operators'
disregard for the law . We shall
pursue these operators vigorously
and we expect to recover substantial-
ly more in damages from them than
they would have paid in license
fees ."
ASCAP previously brought a
number of lawsuits against un -
licensed jukebox operators who paid
quickly after they were sued . The
society hoped that after the wide
publicity those lawsuits received most
jukebox operators would pay the
eight dollars and avoid being sued .
However , so many jukeboxes remain
unlicensed , ASCAP says , that it is
necessary to take stronger action
against infringers .
"We intend ," the ASCAP spokes-
man said , "to protect our members·
against jukebox piracy and , when we
find instances of willful infringement,
we shall ask for criminal prosecution
by the federal authorities. We are
determined to recover substantial
damages from every jukebox opera-
tor who infringes our copyrights."
Fred Granger , executive director
of the Amusement and Music
Operators Association , reported that
"We always advise our members to
pay the eight dollar fee and we
believe our members are complying
with the law . But beyond our
membership of 1 ,200 , we don't have
any enforcement rights and some of
them may not be paying - ! just don't
know . Our people feel that $8 is
something we can live with . We
agreed to it when it came up ."
•
The 1976 copyright law , which
went into effect January 1, 1978,
provides a compulsory license for
jukebox operators at an annual fee of
eight dollars per jukebox . The eight
dollar fee permits non -dramatic
performance of copyrighted music .
To obtain the compulsory license,
jukebox operators must register their
machines with the U.S . Copyright
Office in Washington . The statute
also requires operators to affix a
certificate - supplied by the Copy-
right Office - to the jukebox in a
position whefe it can be readily
examined by the public .
NBC to cover JB awards show
Television coverage by NBC -TV of the AMOA
Jukebox awards presentation and stage show , a first for
the organization , will be realized this month .
The firm of Bob Stivers and Associates approached
Fred Granger , executive director of the AMOA , earlier
this year to set up a meeting exploring feasibility of the
project.
Stivers , president of the firm , and two of his
colleagues , Bob Parkinson and Alvin Ross , ironed out
details with ad hoc committee members Wayne Hesch ,
chairman ; Bob Nims; Don Van Brackel ; Fred Collins;
Russell Mawdley ; Hirsch de La Viez ; and Granger.
The producers , who are sending out telegrams to alert
the industry , are promising the "best stage show ever."
The show , set for November 11 , will be taped and
aired the following Thursday , November 15.
Jukebox awards presentations in recent years have
been plagued by "no-show" winners-that is , enter-
tainers will usually send a manager or recording studio
executive to accept the award.
Perhaps with the expansion of awards categories
·(PLAY METER , October 15, 1979) from five to fifteen
and the added attraction of television coverage, heavily
booked entertainers will make the AMOA awards show a
headliner event this year .