Moving Picture World (April 1912 - June 1912)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 125 tensively used this summer to stimulate in the youth of the country an interest in camp and army life. "In foreign countries military authorities seem much more alive to the educational value of the cinematograph than they are in this country," said a gentleman in the London office of Pathe Freres to your correspondent. "Both in France and Germany the cinematograph is largely used in the army, and we have already done a number of films for these countries. But recently we have had several inquiries from commanding officers to take scenes in camps — infantry, cyclists, cavalry, drills, and so on — and we frequently give private shows. Some short time ago, by permission of Colonel Nugent, the commander, we took a film of the Irish Guards' parade drill. We have also taken films for private customers with a view to their being exhibited in various territorial drill halls, and lectures given on them. We are waking up in this country, there is no doubt. On many occasions lately when we have taken pictures of flights of army aviators or airships, experts have come to our private exhibition theaters to study the films, and prominent aviators say that they can learn more of their mistakes, and the best way of remedying them, by watching themselves in flight than from a fortnight's practice— and, of course, without the risks. The picture of the Lebaudy airship at Aldershot, which we were fortunate enough to secure, was of considerable value in enabling the authorities to discover the cause of the accident." The New Townsend Bill. Another Try at the Infringement Immunity Bill with the Penalty Increased to $5,000. By Epes Winthrop Sargent. Because of the very active opposition of the Society of American Dramatists and Composers and the National Society of Producing Managers, the House Bill, 20,596, generally known as the Townsend bill, which limited to $100 the damages to be collected by the holder of title of any copyright work which had been infringed for phqtoplay purposes, has been withdrawn and a new bill (H. R. 22,350) substituted, in which has been incorporated some of the features of the so-called Moon bill (H. R. 21,295), which provides for the copyrighting of unpublished motion pictures by means of scenario or description and identifying frames from the film. The Townsend feature of the current bill now provides that: ". . . in the case of the infringement of an undramatized or non-dramatic work by means of motion pictures, where the infringer shall show that he was not aware that he was infringing, and that such infringement could not have been reasonably foreseen, such damage shall not exceed the sum of one hundred dollars nor be less than the sum of fifty dollars; and in the case of an infringement of a copyrighted dramatic or dramatico-musical work by a maker of motion pictures and his agencies for distribution thereof to exhibitors, where such infringer shows that he was not aware that he was infringing a copyrighted work, and that such infringement could not have reasonably been foreseen, the entire sum of such damages recoverable by the copyright proprietor from such infringing maker and his agencies for the distribution to exhibitors of such infringing motion picture shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars nor be less than two hundred and fifty dollars. Protects the Exchange, Too. it will be noted that this new bill extends the immunity to the exchange as well as the maker of motion pictures, but still leaves the exhibitor to shift for himself in meeting any legal action due to his use of the infringing copy. This may be due to the fact that in the test case of Harper & Brothers vs. Kalem Co., certain exhibitors made use of duped prints after the originals had been called in, and again it may have been because the exhibitor is not a part of the General Film Company. The Motion Picture Patents Company was represented at the first hearing by John J. O'Connell and the Edison Company by Frank L. Dyer. It seems purely to be a bill in the interest of the Licensed companies as is evidenced by the fact that while immunity must of necessity extend to the Independents the Moon section of the bill seems to be framed purely in the interest of the Licensed product, since it provides that unpublished motion pictures may be copyrighted by entry of the scenario and identifying frames, one from each scene of a photoplay and two or more prints from different parts of an educational or industrial. As the constituent members of the M. P. P. Co. alone lease their product while the others sell or "publish" it, it will be seen that the Licensed films may procure copyright protection for a sum not exceeding five dollars each, while the film alone for two thousand-foot prints required to gain protection for an Independent picture represents an outlay of sixty dollars. These prints may be returned in the discretion of the Librarian of Congress and his Register of Copyrights, or they may be retained in the library or sent to other governmental or public institutions. Prevents Photoplay Registration. To further clinch the matter the new bill not only strikes out the provision of the Moon bill providing for the acceptance for registration of photoplay scenarios, but substitutes a new clause expressly prohibiting the acceptance of such works, the exact phrasing being the words added in parenthesis, "not to include mere scenarios." At the present time the acceptance of scenarios for registration has been left to the discretion of Mr. Thorvald Solberg, the Register of Copyrights, and he seems to have made his rulings along the lines advanced in this publication to the effect that a photoplay is not a scenario in that it is possible to make a complete dramatic production from a photoplay script, which it is manifestly impossible to do from the scenario of a dramatic work. Lines four and five on page two of the new bill rigidly prevent the copyrighting of scenarios for protective purposes as is now done bv the Reliance and other companies. It is time that the Sales Company and its members give the bill their attention. De Luxe Pictures in Chicago. SATURDAY afternoon, March 30th, the Music Hall of the Fine Arts Building was opened as a moving picture theater de luxe. This has long been a need in this city, and I, of course, was one of the first to see the show. The program was excellent, consisting of four reels of Licensed films, with very fine intermission music. The films included were: "Radgrune" (C. G. P. C), "The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter" (Edison), "Incidents of the Durbar at Delhi" (Edison), and "Rice and Old Shoes" (Lubin) — all of them under a week old, though none first run. In justice, however, something must be said about the projection, which was not by any means in keeping with the rest of the program. The machines were not to be blamed, as they were brand new. But the operators seemed to be new, also, as I overheard one of them say to the younger, "You are running that too fast." It seems a pity that the fortunes of an enterprise like this should be entrusted to green operators, or apprentices. The patrons of a de luxe theater have a right to expect something better in every way than they are given in the ordinary five or ten-cent picture theater, and the projection ought to receive its due attention, as well as the music. It is worthy of note that the musicians did their work without any hitch or halt of any kind, while the operating was of a standard much lower than the average of the ordinary nickel show. To be specific, the light was deficient in quantity, the carbons were often neglected till the lower part of the picture was dark, the matter of speed received too much attention of the wrong kind, films were threaded out of frame, once even with the emulsion toward the lens, causing a long stop, while the machine was rethreaded. To be sure, it was a first show, but I have seen a road show in this same hall where everything went smoothly, without a flaw. The lamps were wired up on the foolish double-throw switch plan, the disadvantages of which are plain, as it throws all work on one rheostat, and forces one to start a reel on new carbons without burning them long enough to form a crater properly. In addition to all this, the shutter of one machine was badly out of time, and it was the machine which was in use for three of the four reels. The music was very fine, and received considerable applause. It consisted of instrumental numbers of various kinds, and was quite in keeping with what should be presented in a de luxe entertainment. Still, the music is not the whole show, and unless the projection is brought up to a standard far above the average of the best picture theaters of the city, the success of the de luxe theater will not be quite complete. C. Y.