Evening star., 1932-04-17
COPYRIGHT COSTS
CO Up ON RADIO
Owners Make Known Their
Long Awaited Demand
for More Pay.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

~ EGINNING June /, 1t is going to
- cost the bradocasting fraternity
a pretty penny to enjoy the
IL kind permission of the copy
right owners"
Convinced that radio has cut deeply
into sheet music, phonograph record
and musical comedy box office sales, the
copyright owners last week made known
their long awaited demand for a greater
share Of the earnings of radio stations.
From the American Society of Com
posers, Authors and Publishers largest
of several musical copyright pools, the
broadcasters have learned that license
fees are going to be boosted more than
300 per cent.
Sustaining" Income Retained.
Where stations are now paying fat
fees roughly computed on the basis Of
their powers, they must after June l
pay the society 5 per cent Of gross in
come on all their commercially spon-
sored and non-network programs. This
Is in addition to the fees they are now
paying, which will be retained, as the
society puts its, as sustaining" income
for the society.
Basing its calculations on an esti-
mated $50,000,000 to S60,000,000 busi-
ness done by stations and networks
during the current year, the American
society expects to realize $2,500 900 or
more annually from radio, plus the
/ 1850 900 it is already getting. for grant
ing radio the privilege OF using It's
copyrighted works.
Naturally the broadcasters are up In
arms over the proposal. The per cent
fee means either that their profits Will
be out that much or they must
boost the rates they charge sponsors
who buy time from them. To many
stations barely eking out an existence,
it is argued, the rate Is excessive ana
exorbitant and its enforcement WILL
sound their death knen.
ON the other hand, it Is argued oy
spokesmen for the composers soclety,
many stations are enjoying supStanSiai
earning power and can well anoro 10
nav. But even the profitable stations
object strenuously to having private
qroup delve into their flscal RECORDS on
demand to compute the per cent levy'
quite aside from their almost unaIl-
NOUS belief that 5 per cent Is Iai WV
excessive rate to exact.
Most Burning Issue.
The copyright issue Is undoubtedly tne
most, burning problem facing the broao-
casters today. They want to ngnt u,
and indeed. are considering ways ana
means of doing SO through their Ma
tional Association of Broadcasters,
which has appointed a committee
headed by Paul w. Morency OF wiz,
Hartford, to parley with Z. Clauoe
Mills. the societys general manager
MIR. Mills, however, has let 1t be known
that while he may consider some
dinoinution of the sustaining" fees IN
the cases of smaller stations, he Will
stand pat on the 5-per-cent-of-gross
standard.
It is Mr.. Mills contention that the
radio people will do well to accept the
fee rather than seek to enjoin or dis
solve his copyright pool. Dissolved, the
pool, he says, will break up into small
units each of which will have the right
to demand a royalty for the use OF It's
works. Musical genius, he says, has
suffered severely because Of the re-
duced field for its efforts and deserves
a greater return for its productions.
Sheet music sales, according to Mr..
Mills, are 10 per cent Of what they were
three years ago; phonograph records
have a very small market and musical
comedies have hard going TO attract
audiences-al because. he contends, the
ease Of getting songs by radio and the
constant playing OF new songs on the
radio plugs those songs 70 death In
short order.
Dead 10 Rights"
The copyright owners, under the ex-
isting law, appear to have the broad
casters as it were dead TO rights.
Radio needs their music, which in the
case Of the society usually embraces the
latest song hits. II radio station pls Us
| a copyrighted number without license
or without special permission, 1t is
amenable to a $3.50 minimum flne for
each and every rendition Of that num-
Der as the law is now written. The
| copyright owners have defeated in
| fringerS at practically every turn In
court actions up to now.
1t is conceivable that a single small
| station could run up penalties totaling
| thousands and tens Of thousands OF dol
| lars for infringementS in single day
The society has its lawyers and scouts
at strategic points where they can
monitor offending stations. There seems
to be nothing for it but to pay the So
| cietyS demands-unlesS, indeed, the
| organized broadcaSterS can dicker for
| lower rates or secure an early passage
of legislation by Congress designed to
establish arbitration boards to consider
| whether rates are excessive. One such
| bill is already before the Senate; it.
author is Senator Dill, father of much
| of the legislation regulating radio, who
wants broadcasting recognized IN a new
copyright law that will replace the
| praSaO laU urittan long before modern