Play Meter

the CR T's actions. Letters to the editor Leo A . Droste Executive Vice President AMOA Oak B rook, Illinois ••• Phonograph petition As executive vice president of the Amusement and Music Operators Association, I am writing to thank you for urging your readers to support legislation to aid the jukebox industry, H .R . 3858 and S. 1734. It was helpful that you published a petition that your readers could use to collect signatures of persons supporting the legislation. However, I must point out an inaccuracy in the preface to the petition which states that "[r]ecently the music royalty companies slipped a bill through U.S. Congress that raises the rates jukeboxes must pay to these companies by 525 percent." You should be aware that the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (CRT), not Congress, raised the royalty fees from $8 to $50 in 1980. Congress initially passed the law in 1976 establishing a compulsory license for jukeboxes and gave the CRT the right to review these rates. In the . face of the 525 percent increase, AMOA has worked with members of Congress to change the law. We have been very pleased with the reception we have received. We are particularly grateful that Rep. Bob Kastenmeier (D-Wisc.), the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice, has called a meeting of the entire jukebox industry in Washington on February 3 to discuss this issue. We are optimistic that this meeting will lead the way to a final resolution of the problem created by PLAY MITTR. February 15, 1984 Editor's Note: We thank Leo Droste for bringing this matter to our attention. We are overwhelmed at the number of responses we're receiving. To date, 1,100 petitions have been returned with an average of 20 signatures each for a total of 22,000 signatures. Because the response has been so strong, and because th e deadline for returning the petitions has been extended by the lawyers representing our industry in this struggle. Play Meter is publishing the petition again in this issue on page 11 . Th e new petition carries altered wording in accordance with AMOA 's suggestions. While Play Meter is sending the first petition responses along to industry attorneys as we receive them, we urge you to continue to gather responses by posting the new petition at your locations. (Locations that have already produced a good response are probably the best places to put new petition forms.) We urge you to continue to respond to this effort. There is no new deadline . but we ask you to return the signed petition forms as soon as possible. Rudio Visu~I Amusements Offering the finest new and used equipment REPR ESE NTIN G LEA D ING FACTORIES • SA LE S, PA RTS, SE RVIC E • ARCADE PLANNING SPECIALISTS Every new and used video 1n stock at all times YOU'VE TRIED THE REST, NOW TRY THE BEST WE'RE EAGER TO SERVE 1809 Olive Street St. Louis . Mi sso uri 63103 (314 ) 4 21- 51 00 For further information, call Pete Entringer (col le ct) 7