Play Meter

copyright royalty agencies, "we have
an influence they do not have," with
the support of revenue-earning
locations and municipalities where
jukeboxes are operated. .
"Go to your customers," Pink
urged, "and tell them, 'We have a
problem and we have to work on this
together .... Combine our doltars and
our influence, to fight and help us in
this legislative program."'
Show Records
The AMOA Expo, staged for the
final year in the old Conrad Hilton
Hotel on Michigan Avenue, broke all
previous attendance and exhibiting
records. Attendance was logged at
10,917 persons, a sharp rise from the
7,400 on hand last fall.
The number of exhibit booths was
up slightly, with 370 stands crowded
into the four show rooms. Exhibitor
personnel numbered 1,240 of the
total figure, and the estimated 800
foreign attendees was a slight
decrease from the 1,072 recorded
last year.
With the success of its exhibitor
sign-ups, the AMOA treasury stood
with a surplus of $115,900 on
October 30 after expenses of the
Expo and other costs- totaling
$521,509- were accounted, said
Treasurer Wesley Lawson, Winter
Haven, Florida operator.
Officers confirmed for 1981-82
also are First Vice President Clayton
L. Norberg of Mankata, Minnesota;
Secretary Lawson; Treasurer Dock
Ringo of Mineral Wells, Texas; a nd
Allen: 'Legal progress'
10
incoming vice presidents Walter
Bohrer Jr. , Milwa ukee, James B.
Reeves, Whiteville, No rth Carolina,
and Vincent Storino, Toms River,
New Jersey.
AMOA Executive Direc tor Leo A.
Droste pointed to new operators in
the industry as the main components
of the incre ased attenda n ce
numbers, and President Pink
outlined the AMOA officers' active
year in traveling to state association
meetings, including the newly
formed Iowa, Indiana, Wyoming, and
Arizona associations.
Pink a lso explained that the
headquarters office of AMOA will
begin making use of its new data
processing equipment to storehouse
information of possibly vital interest
to state associations a nd individual
operators-files on licenses and tax
structures a round the nation,
legislative matters, as well as AMOA
membership records.
Of problems facing the coin
industry, Pink pointed to distorted
revenue figures and public concepts
of games, as portrayed by the
nation's media, and the "get rich
quick" schemes for coin-ops also
appearing in the press.
From the legal arena, AMOA
general counsel Nicholas Allen
spoke to the membership on "a very
busy year for the AMOA 's
representation in Washington." He
detailed ( 1) the AMOA's appeal from
the CRT's jukebox royalty rate
decision (which had oral arguments
heard in federal court in Chicago the
week following the exposition); (2)
the AMOA's motion as an intervenor
in the U.S. Court of Appeals in
Washington from the raising of the
mechanical royalty rate on records;
and (3) hearing within the CRT on its
method of annual rate adjustment of
royalty fees, which a court has held
not to be in the CRT preview to
adjust along cost-of-living lines.
Also, the counsel reminded the
members, legal defense was raised
against the location list requirement
for ope r ato rs, but th e CRT
rescinded its own regulation in this
matter (Play Meter, August 1, page
22). Further, the AMOAparticipa ted
as a "friend of the court" in the
Aladdin's Castle challenge of the
Mesquite, Texas ordinance banning
juveniles from playing games in
arcades- "and we expect to win, by
the way," said Allen.
CRT proceedings are underway,
he noted, to divide performing rights
societies ASCAP and BMI's shares
Ballard: 'New challenge'
Pink: 'Good cooperation'
AMOA attendance: 10,917
(vs. 7,400 in 1980)
Exhibit booths: 370
(400 projected in 1982)
PLAY METER, j an uary 1,1982