Play Meter
Issue: 1981 May 15 - Vol 7 Num 9 - Page 88
News briefs .... news briefs .... news I
..... The Court of Appeals in Franklin County, Ohio on March 24
overruled the local Common Pleas Court decision whl ch had favored
video poker games in t he c ase of Mills-Jennings of Ohio, owner
of the machines. The appeals c ourt ruled that "Draw Poker on the
basis of the Ohio statutes , has been determined as a matter of law
to be a gambling device . " The matter was remanded to the Common
Pleas Court, which had i ssued a restraining order preventing state
authorities from confi s c a ting the games from the Fraternal Order of
.Eagles lodge location in Cleve l and . The issue would be fina ~ zed in
four to six weeks, depe nding on whethe r or not Hills-Je nnings i.l:ppe als
further, to the State Supreme Court. Of the appeals decision, spokes-
man Paul Corey for the Ohio Mus i c & Amusement Association (which had
filed with the Court a brief opposing. the "gray area" equipment) said:
"OMAA is verypleased with thi s decision as it shows that our stand
was the correct one." OMAA had sought to underline the distinction
between games of chance and coin-operated amusement equipment .....
Atari, Inc. staged a press s howing March 23 in New York City for
its VCS system home ve rsion of Missile Command and its new
Asteroids Deluxe arcade model . The list of media sending repre-
sentatives included network television, Time magazine, Scientific
American, and a number of others scheduled for the presentation at
The Tower Suite of t he T~e/Life Building. Cocktails and a special
film were set up for t h e press , a nd Atari's chief officers were
present. Details will f ollow in PLAY METER . . ... The chairman of the
Copyright Royalty Tribuna l has t old a Congressional panel that he
believes the CRT should b e abo lished. Clarence L. James, Jr. in
early March testified be fore the U.S. House Subcommittee on Courts,
Civil Liberties, and the Admini stration of Justice during a review
procedure for agencies over !hi c h Congress exercises controls.
James emphasized that he be lie ves the copyright owners and users of
recorded music could better establish fair royalty rates by "market-
place negotiations," and he sai d there should be no more compulsory
licenses for jukebox operators ..... The next IMA exhibition in
Frankfurt will be held on J anu a ry 21-24, 198 2 , which includes one
conflicting date with the ATE Show in Britain. The ATE runs Januar y
18-21 at the National Exhi biti on Centre in Birmingham ..... A proposed
New Orleans ordinance to set a $50 per-machine license fee on
amusement games was delayed one month on March 19 when operators
came to city council for the second session to argue against the
measure ..... Southwest Vending has scheduled a special showing of new
equipment in a two to three day show in May in the Dallas area, with
time to be announced later . . ......... . ..........•........ . ..........
-:-~~-
PLAY METER, May 15,1981
..... The Court of Appeals in Franklin County, Ohio on March 24
overruled the local Common Pleas Court decision whl ch had favored
video poker games in t he c ase of Mills-Jennings of Ohio, owner
of the machines. The appeals c ourt ruled that "Draw Poker on the
basis of the Ohio statutes , has been determined as a matter of law
to be a gambling device . " The matter was remanded to the Common
Pleas Court, which had i ssued a restraining order preventing state
authorities from confi s c a ting the games from the Fraternal Order of
.Eagles lodge location in Cleve l and . The issue would be fina ~ zed in
four to six weeks, depe nding on whethe r or not Hills-Je nnings i.l:ppe als
further, to the State Supreme Court. Of the appeals decision, spokes-
man Paul Corey for the Ohio Mus i c & Amusement Association (which had
filed with the Court a brief opposing. the "gray area" equipment) said:
"OMAA is verypleased with thi s decision as it shows that our stand
was the correct one." OMAA had sought to underline the distinction
between games of chance and coin-operated amusement equipment .....
Atari, Inc. staged a press s howing March 23 in New York City for
its VCS system home ve rsion of Missile Command and its new
Asteroids Deluxe arcade model . The list of media sending repre-
sentatives included network television, Time magazine, Scientific
American, and a number of others scheduled for the presentation at
The Tower Suite of t he T~e/Life Building. Cocktails and a special
film were set up for t h e press , a nd Atari's chief officers were
present. Details will f ollow in PLAY METER . . ... The chairman of the
Copyright Royalty Tribuna l has t old a Congressional panel that he
believes the CRT should b e abo lished. Clarence L. James, Jr. in
early March testified be fore the U.S. House Subcommittee on Courts,
Civil Liberties, and the Admini stration of Justice during a review
procedure for agencies over !hi c h Congress exercises controls.
James emphasized that he be lie ves the copyright owners and users of
recorded music could better establish fair royalty rates by "market-
place negotiations," and he sai d there should be no more compulsory
licenses for jukebox operators ..... The next IMA exhibition in
Frankfurt will be held on J anu a ry 21-24, 198 2 , which includes one
conflicting date with the ATE Show in Britain. The ATE runs Januar y
18-21 at the National Exhi biti on Centre in Birmingham ..... A proposed
New Orleans ordinance to set a $50 per-machine license fee on
amusement games was delayed one month on March 19 when operators
came to city council for the second session to argue against the
measure ..... Southwest Vending has scheduled a special showing of new
equipment in a two to three day show in May in the Dallas area, with
time to be announced later . . ......... . ..........•........ . ..........
-:-~~-
PLAY METER, May 15,1981
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).