Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

rocco, United Arab Republic, Tunisia, Australia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Philippines. Mr. Gross, a native of New York City, 56, and a former assistant chief engineer of the FCC, heads an organization of 260 in Geneva. He became acting secretary-general in 1958, following the death of Marco Andrada, of Argentine. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Gross had been a physicist at the Bureau of Standards. He became vicedirector of ITU and head of its radio division in 1945. ITU's 100 member organization on Dec. 10 elected Dr. Manohar Balaji Sarwate of India deputy secretary-general, succeeding Mr. Gross. Dr. Sarwate, 49, studied radio engineering at U. of Bombay and Liverpool. He was director of communications of the Civil Aviation Dept. of India and held other important communications posts in that government. He is India's representative on the administrative council of ITU and heads its delegation to the Geneva Radio Conference. Dover's tv delayed Dover, England, ch. 10 won't go on the air at Christmas (Broadcasting, Oct. 5) after all. Special tests are nec essary to establish that the ch. 10 signal will not cause an unacceptable degree of interference in the service areas of existing tv stations on the Continent. The Dover station eventually will serve an area from the Medway towns to Beachy Head. Food advertising code proposed in Canada A code of ethics designed to guide food buyers and cut down misleading advertising was proposed in the report of the Royal Commission on Price Spreads of Food Products, released at Ottawa, Canada, on November 30. The report urged the Assn. of Canadian Advertisers, in cooperation with the food industry, to draw up and administer such a code. The commission's report was released by its chairman, Dr. Andrew Stewart, who headed the commission during its investigations and since has been appointed chairman of the Canadian Board of Broadcast Governors. The report pointed out that food products advertising increased almost 400% from 1949 to 1957, accounting for about 5% of the cost of food after it leaves the farm. This was estimated to be double the proportion accounted PROGRAMMING for by advertising in 1949. The report stated that the five-fold rise in advertising expenditures as food moves from farm to shopping basket was by far the greatest increase in all things added to the food marketing bill. The commission commented particularly on the growth of television advertising, tv accounting for the greatest part of the increase in total advertising spending. • Abroad in brief Madison Avenuesky' • The Soviet trade journal Sovetskaya Torgovlya announced last month that Russian tv advertising has spread from Moscow to provincial stations and has inaugurated a "new goods" program featuring products of interest to women. The journal said that "expert advice from specialists accompanied the demonstration." The chief planner for a provincial department store said that the telecasts "had rendered a good service. Demand for newly-introduced goods . . . literally increased the very next day." Real Red network • The Russian government announced it has over 40 new tv and relay stations under construction in the Soviet Union besides the 68 existing stations and installations now in operation. SUING ASCAP SONGWRITERS JOLTED Judge rules no standing to sue on performing rights issue The $150 million sting was taken out of the long-pending "songwriters' antitrust suit" against BMI, the networks, NAB and a long line of broadcasters last week by a federal judge in New York. Judge Edward Weinfeld of U.S. District Court held that the 33 songwriterplaintiffs had no standing to sue for damages insofar as radio, television or other public performances of their approximately 7,000 songs were concerned. He held they could sue on their charges that BMI paid off, reimbursed or otherwise induced their publishers not to promote aggressively some 5,800 of the works, and also with respect to approximately 1,200 unpublished tunes. Both sides hailed the decision as a great victory but counsel for the songwriters refused to say they would not appeal. BMI authorities, obviously jubilant over the decision, said they had no intention of appealing. If the songwriters appealed, however, they said they would consider filing a crossappeal. Songwriters' counsel said they didn't yet know whether they would 92 appeal, but that none of the plaintiffs had suggested they do so. They said the decision established their right to sue for injunctive relief and for damages except on what they called the "limited issues" of performing rights. BMI authorities countered that the "performing rights" issue represented at least 95% of the suit and that the decision effectively removed the element of damages because the only damages specified by the songwriters related to performance rights. Moreover, BMI contended that in order to support the charges left for trial the songwriters would have to prove that their own publishers, practically all of them ASCAP members not connected with BMI, had been induced by BMI to refrain from exploiting the music. Even if they could do this, BMI asserted, plaintiffs already have admitted in the law suit that they are unable to specify any damages arising out of this type of alleged interference. In addition to $150 million damages, the six-year-old suit, known as Schwartz vs. BMI, seeks the dissolution of BMI. Whether this issue is left intact by Judge Weinfeld's decision was a question which brought varying answers even among broadcasters. The conservative opinion was that it is still in issue, but there were others who maintained that it no longer is. The thrust of the charges, as summarized by Judge Weinfeld, is that the defendants conspired to dominate and control the market for the uses and exploitation of musical compositions, particularly the public performance rights, and ultimately to fix and reduce the price paid by broadcasters for the use of music on the air. The songwriters, all of them members of ASCAP, contended the defendants conspired against the use of their tunes, and in favor of BMI. Judge Weinfeld ruled, however, that through their ASCAP membership the songwriters had "unequivocally" transferred their rights to ASCAP and that, under the law, it is ASCAP and not the members who would be hurt directly by any such conspiracy. Thus, he held, the plaintiffs have no legal standing BROADCASTING, December 14, 1959