Play Meter

Letters to
the editor • • •
Remembering Industry
leaders
Reading Millie McCarthy's letter
(Play Meier , Aug . I, pg. 7) regarding
ASCAP and "Who do you know in
Congress ?" reminds me of another
industry veteran whose great contri-
butions have not been sufficiently
documented.
We should not forget J . Cameron
(Jack) Gordon who, when president of
the Seeburg Corp. , formed COPPS ,
the Coin Operators Phonograph
Performance Society.
Utilizing music copyrights under his
control , he told operators that if
ASCAP cut off phonograph records
for use on their coin phonographs,
Seeburg would make its music avail-
able on records to keep the operator in
business with new records.
Matter of fact, the many copyrights
under Seeburg control and the actual
phonograph records that the firm did
issue undoubtedly caused the per-
forming rights societies from pursuing
their original course to extract license
fees from the operators and delayed
their activities for an extended period.
Like her and Jack, the industry
needs, always, those who are willing to
take positive action personally for the
benefit of all.
Frank Luppino Jr.
Director, Corporate
Special Projects,
Beverage World Magazine
Glenview, Ill.
Hors d' oeuvres, entl'ees
l
I cannot agree with Mr. Jack
Guarnieri of Brooklyn, N .Y. that
home games will hurt the commercial
PLAY METER. November 1, 1982
model games in locations and arcades
(See Play Meier, Aug. I, p. 7).
First, the home games are a thin ,
weak substitute for the variety and
appeal of the games in an arcade or
game room. Frankly, I believe that
home games whet the appetite and
initiate new players into the great
appeal of coin-op video games. We
might say that home games are the
hors d'oeuvres, the entree of a great
feast being the brand new coin-op
video games just installed on location .
Many years ago the shortsighted
movie picture studios said that tele-
vision would kill the movies, and they
would not permit their movies to be
shown on television. So, we were
treated to a diet of Roy Rogers ,
Hopalong Cassidy, and Gene Autry.
Finally the studios found out they
could make millions by selling their
old film libraries to the television
networks. So now we have a loving
marriage of television and movies
helping each other. and better yet,
movie theaters have discovered that
video games and flippers have far
more revenue to their theaters than
popcorn and candy. Some movie
theater managers have told us that
many of their patrons come to their
Audio Visual
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