Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

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1949 THEATER TELEVISION 345 IX. PROGRAMMING The foregoing discussion indicates that theater television is technically feasible and within the pocketbook range of the majority of exhibitors. Our next inquiry is what can be done with a co-operative system of theater television from a programming standpoint, will theater television be economically feasible and can it compete with television broadcasting, and what effect and impact will theater television have on motion pictures and television broadcasting. A word of caution is appropriate at this time. Theater television is just emerging from the laboratory stage; its experimental phase is just about to begin. We have no statistical data to buttress our conclusions. The latter are of necessity tentative and may warrant revision in the light of future developments. Program material for theater television can be derived from : 1. Television broadcasting, or 2. Independent sources. The latter term has reference to programs secured by and through the co-operative group engaged in theater television. If the co-operative group seeks program material from the television broadcast station or network, it is beset with certain legal problems. Section 325 (a) of the Communications Act of 1934 prohibits a station from rebroadcasting the programs of another broadcast station without the express authority of the originating station. This tenders the question of whether the pickup and ; transmission of a television program to a theater is a "rebroadcast" requiring the permission of the originating station. This point has not been adjudicated either by the FCC or the courts. It is believed that when Section 325 (a) was enacted into law, it was the intention of Congress that the originating station or system should have the right "to control its program after it has been thrown onto the air." This suggests that the co-operative group of television theaters would be required to secure the permission of the television broadcast station or network. In the event that Section 325 (a) is construed by the FCC and the courts as not to require the consent of the originating station, the theater television group would be precluded by common law and statutory copyright from retelevising the programs transmitted by a television broadcast station. The court undoubtedly will hold that the production of any television program, i.e., news, sports, variety show, and so forth, involving as it does the expenditures of skills in the use of the television camera, effort, and monies, results in the