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July 2, 1921
MOVING PICTURE WORLD
53
THE PLAIN TRUTH
ABOUT THE MUSIC TAX
WE were invited to again tell the story of the music tax, in this special edition of Moving Picture World.
We accepted the invitation for three reasons.
First, we believe in the honesty, fearlessness and good faith of the World — years ago when the writer was an exhibitor it was his business bible, and as time has passed it has remained consistently a truthful guide to the exhibitor.
Second, we are quite willing to justify the so-called' “tax” if it needs our humble justification in addition to that given it by the Constitution of the United States, the laws enacted by Congress, and the formal approval which has been placed upon it by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Courts of individual States.
Third, because we feel it might as well be known now as any other time that the tax will have to be paid by those who publicly perform our compositions for profit, and while we are entirely willing to show the fairness and the justice of our position, we afe not at all intimidated, worried or concerned as to the action that may be taken by exhibitors individually or collectively, or by their attorneys, in efforts to combat payment of the tax.
If all concerned could understand that we are reluctant to drag violators of the law into Court only because we are willing to be patient, anxious to be more than fair, and not because we have the slightest doubt of the right of our cause, we would all get along better.
So, again, as briefly as is possible, we will outline our case. We will define these “rights” which, as the authors and composers of musical works, we possess. None, a few, or many may agree that we are right — or that we are wrong. We seek to form no one’s opinion for him.
Here goes —
The Constitution of the United States provides for the encouragement of the arts and sciences through recognition of the inventor of useful mechanical appliances and the authors of literary and musical works, to the extent of creating in them an absolute monopoly in the exclusive ownership and control of their works.
The Copyright and Patent laws give voice to this recognition, and provide the detail of the system which protects these creators in the enjoyment of the monopoly it is intended that they shall possess.
In the case of a musical composition the author and composer have two clear rights under the law : first, the right to print and multiply printings of the work and sell them ; and, second, the right to absolutely control their public performance for profit.
Because Mr. Griffith might have chanced to purchase a book of the story “Way Down East” did he have a right to produce a motion picture play of that book? No. He paid Mr. Brady, who owned the story, a huge sum for the right to produce and publicly perform this old story as a film play.
But, Mr. Griffith would not have had to pay Mr. Brady for the use of the story, had the only use to which he put it been to read it in his own