Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

June 7, 1930 EXHIBITORS HERALD-WORLD 49 Pathe Officials Non-committal On Reported Move by Rowland (Right) E. B. DERR , executive vice president of Pathe and in charge of the company* s ambitious program for 1930-31. (Left) RICHARD A. ROW LAND , former head of First National who , according to reports , is seeking control of Pathe. (Left) C. J. SCOLLARD , executive in charge of operations and associated with Derr in outlining company* s policies. (Right) LEWIS INNERARITY , who is secretary of Pathe , which is one of the oldest companies in the film industry. MP T O Plans Revise Prefer Not to Be Drawn Into Controversy, Say Executives “We Have No Intention of Debating the Matter in the Pressy” Declares Lewis Innerarity (Special to the Herald-World) NEW YORK, June 4. — Pathe does not care to be drawn into the controversy, and has no intention of debating the matter in the press, says Lewis Innerarity, secretary, in replying to the move of the 8 per cent stockholders which, it is said, would put Richard A. Rowland in control of the company. Dissension within Pathe became apparent a week ago when a committee, said to represent a group of dissatisfied stockholders, inserted an advertisement in several of the metropolitan dailies. This advertisement expressed dissatisfaction with the corporation’s management and indicated that Joseph Kennedy, _ chairman of the board, had relinquished active participation in the affairs of the organization because of the said management’s inadequacy. Pathe Replies to Ad To this advertisement Pathe replied with a letter to its stockholders stating that Richard A. Rowland, who headed the committee, and several of its other members were not holders of stock; that the majority of the stockholders had already indicated their confidence in the present management by delivering to it proxies to be voted at the annual meeting, and added that this same board was best qualified to determine the advisability and the extent of the corporation’s financial requirements. “It may fairly be assumed that a change in management, especially where the personnel of the proposed new management is not disclosed, cannot be relied upon as an assurance that the earning power of the corporation will be increased,” Mr. Innerarity stated for Pathe. Following this came a statement from the group representing the 8 per cent preferred stockholders. Treats Reply as Beside Issue i epresent a group of stockholders who were dissatisfied with the present management. In answer to this letter Lewis Innerarity said: “We do not care to be drawn into a controversy. Our letter to the stockholders after the appearance of the Rowland advertisement in the papers was merely to correct some errors that appeared in his statement. We are filing no answer, we have no intention of debating the matter in the press; we do not care to deal with unknown quantities and we do not know the people who are making all these statements. The less said about the whole business, the better.” Now everything, it would appear, is off till the stockholders’ meeting of June 9. Bill for Automatic Extended Copyright Reported to House Of Constitution at Kansas Meet, June 24 (Special to the Herald-World) KANSAS CITY, June 4.— Revision of the present constitution is to be one of the principal tasks scheduled for the convention of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Kansas and Western Missouri which opens June 24 at Topeka, Kan., for a two-day session. R. R. Biechele, president of the organization, said this week that an effort would be made to revise the constitution as it affects the voting power of chain theatres. Another important item for discussion will be the proposed amusement tax in Kansas. The Kansas tax code commission favors a 10 per cent tax on admissions and a bill for this purpose will be presented at the next session of the legislature. Negotiates for Site For $3,000,000 T heatre (Special to the Herald-World) OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA., June 4.— Owner Cooper of the Criterion, Capitol, Victoria and Ritz theatres, was in town last week to complete negotiations for the site of the $3,000,000 theatre to bear his name. This letter, also addressed to the stockholders, treated Pathe’s reply as being beside the issue, pointed out that the corporation did not deny the statement alleged to have been made by Joseph Kennedy before his retirement from active participation in the business of the corporation, reiterated the statement that the present prospects of the company were highly unsatisfactory, and asked particulars of transactions which occurred while members of the present board were in office. The letter admitted that Rowland, chairman; Frederick Ryan, secretary; Robert Daniel and W. V. A. Waterman, of the stockholders’ committee were not stockholders in themselves, but had been appointed a committee to 2600 Juveniles in Day Show Draw of Talkies Twenty-six hundred children in one day as against 800 during the days of silent pictures is the answer of a neighborhood theatre management to the statement that talking pictures have brought a decline in juvenile patronage. “Pick the right pictures,” says this theatre owner. Measure Designed to Give Author Clear Title Which He Can Pass On (Special to the Herald-World) WASHINGTON, June 4.— Creation of an automatic copyright and extension of copyright to the life of the author and fifty years thereafter are the main provisions of a bill that has just been reported to the house with a view to a general revision of the copyright laws. This general revision provides the following automatic copyright which is conferred upon the author on creation of his work : Divisible copyright, which permits the assignee to protect and enforce any right he acquires from the author without the complications incidental to the old law ; International copyright, which enables American authors merely by complying with the provisions of the act, to secure copyright throughout all the important countries of the world without further formalities. The law is designed to give an author clear title so that he, in turn, can give clear title to those with whom he deals. The act awaits action on the house calendar without any provision so far on the program for consideration at this session of Congress.