Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

MP A TITLE BUREAU PROVES ITS VALUE Independents Swell Ranks of Members to 46; Unit Operating Since 1925 The post-war increase in the number of independent producers has considerably swelled the ranks of the members of the Motion Picture Association title registration bureau. Today 26 MPA members and 20 non-members avail themselves of the service. Applications from 12 more have been received. The bureau was established in 1925 by member companies of the association. Its purpose is four-fold: To protect valuable rights in motion picture titles; to establish a priority system in the use of titles; to avoid similarities and the resulting expense and litigation, and to judge titles on the basis of their moral suitability and the accepted standards of good taste. Bureau Value Proved Since its inception the large number of titles filed and the resultant increase in iden tical or similar selections has proved the value of the bureau on the industry. Its files bulge with records of some 41,500 released pictures. Here is the only complete record of shorts and features produced by the American industry since the year 1900. In 1937 the MPA called on all of its member companies to furnish a complete list of pictures. As a result, wedged in between recent releases, there are cards listing films like Vitagraph's "Adele's Wash Day," or "An Alpine Echo," both made in 1909. Registered in the unreleased file are about 13,500 titles. This number remains fairly constant, but has shown a tendency to rise during the post-war period. Approximately 3,300 new titles are filed with the bureau every year. Cross-reference cards and song listings as well as voluminous correspondence copies occupy more than 20 cabinets. The rules under which the bureau operates appear simple on the surface, but are actually complex and varied. Titles fall into two categories — original and copyright. Each company has a quota of 100 names for its unreleased productions. The short subjects quota permits 200 titles and the number of songs that can be registered is unlimited. The companies have the right to register titles for all of the copyrighted material they buy. May Ask Permanent Protection In addition, they have the right to claim permanent protection for all titles based on permanent material as well as for 250 originals. Released pictures are automatically protected for four years following the date of their first showing. Copyright means protection for 28 years. Once he has registered an original title a producer is assured of at least one year's protection. If no other companies have asked for the same name his rights are extended automatically. If there are other companies waiting for the same title, the producer can obtain a six-month extension. Following that period, production on the picture has to have started if no one else is to use the same title. Every day the registration bureau sends out a complete report to all of its members, listing the titles that have been submitted. The bureau itself has no power to enforce its rules, but Margaret Ann Young, head of the MPA title registration section, says all members act within the organization's self regulatory spirit. British Represented Among the MPA non-members who have signed the title agreement are: David O. Selznick Productions, Edward Small Productions, Story Productions, General Motion Picture Corporation, Mark Hellinger Productions and Diana Productions. British producers whose pictures are being released in the United States also are represented. As is the case with all organizations with voluntary membership, coverage of the industry is not complete. This was demonstrated recently in the case of "Kilroy Was Here." General Motion Pictures Corporation had the title registered with the bureau, but Astor Pictures announced it would go ahead with a production under the same title. There is nothing much the bureau can do in such a case except to inform the company using a title in violation of the priority list that another producer already has registered the name. All the majors abide by the bureau's rules and the smaller companies usually realize that it is to their advantage to do likewise. It is not clear whether the registering agreement is binding under law. A number of small companies, not members of MPA or the title bureau, submit their choices to the MPA for the production code seal. The title-registration section is kept informed of these registrations. Settle by Arbitration Disagreements on title rights or cases of similarity are settled either by the companies themselves or through arbitration. Through the bureau's daily reports the companies are kept informed about each other's production plans. The report takes the broad view of similarities. If, however, a company feels that an announced title is too similar to the registered name of one of its own films, it has the right to protest within seven days. The other company then must answer the protest within seven days. Disagreements of this kind usually are settled by the companies themselves, with the title bureau informed of their talks. From three to four hundred protests are launched every year. An average of only five a year cannot be settled and are submitted for arbitration. It often happens that companies eliminate disagreements by signing waivers to title rights. Arbitration cases are heard by the 13 members of the title committee, headed by Adolf Schimel of Universal, or by a threeman board. In the latter case each company selects its representatives and the two men then choose the third member of the committee. One of the cases submitted for arbitration concerned the titles "Cluny Brown" and "Casanova Brown." The committee ruled that they did not constitute a case of harmful similarity. The group ruled that there was harmful similarity in the case of "No Surrender" and "Never Surrender." Imports Are Up In Puerto Rico by REUBEN. D. SANCHEZ in San Jvjf**^ During the first half of 1946 Puerto Rico imported 2,822,318 feet of feature film with an estimated value of $64,067 and motion picture equipment valued at $53,152. New 35 mm sound projectors were imported to be used in new theatres that are being opened throughout the island and to replace equipment which has been worn out since the beginning of the war. New 16mm projectors were imported for the expansion of several of the major American producers' 16mm circuit. Feature imports reflect a large increase over imports for the first half of 1945 due to better shipping conditions and because several of the producers are now serving the Virgin Islands, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela directly from San Juan. The number of performances has been increased in the first run houses in the metropolitan area of San Juan because of the quality of product shown — including "Gone With the Wind," "To Each His Own" and "The Lost Weeeknd." Seek New Trial Date In Seattle Action Immediate action to obtain a new trial date is to be taken in Seattle in the case of Theatre Investing Company against eight producing-distributing companies, National Theatres and others would be taken by the plaintiffs, following the dismissal of the case because of a "hung" jury. The suit began October 9 with the plaintiffs asking $518,235 for damages, charging that the defendant companies had acted to set admission scales and denied the licensing of some product. Theatre Investing and Venetian further seek to break up an alleged monopoly in the ownership of Seattle theatres and in the distribution of films. The defendants denied all charges. 52 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 7, 1946