Variety (Oct 1938)

TTednesdar. October 19, 1938 MUSIC ■•»v 41 PLUG PAYOLAS PERPLEXED Uniott Wins Victory on Injunction Plea; Issue Must Go to Trial New York, musicians' union won a pertinent victory in the N. Y. Su- preme court Idst week when Justice George McLaughlin refused to grant a temporary injunction to a dance hall owner who charged that the picketing of his spot constituted a secondary boycott, which, practice is unlawful in this state. Court held that the property owner, the Witoka Civic Association, Inc., would have to look to the actual trial of the case jfor relief. Complaint stated that the hall is rented to outside organizations for dances and social affairs, with the latter furnishing their own musi- cians, and " that the picketing in- volved only, the use of. musicians over which the .plaintiff had no control. Local 802 contends that the hall owner himself conducts • dances and hires non-union musicians, which circumstances makes its " picketing lawful. Case was <lesignated for trial around the-end of this month. ASCAP's Louisiana 0.0. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers has its special field -^crew, headed by Richard Powers, currently checking the licensing situation in Louisiana. This district is represented by a lawyer, Studebaker Lucas. After four weeks in Louisiana the crew will head toward the Coast. MORE RIGHTS CLEAR VIA HARRY FOX CAMPBELL TURNS A TRICK IN AUSTRALIA Sydney, Sept. 27. Jimmy Campbell, former London music publisher (Campbell-Connel- ly, Clnephonic, etc.), who came here •with his wife, Betty Balfour, the British film star, currently touring In 'Personal Appearance,' will con- tinue to make Australia his head- quarters. He's associated with Music Corp. of Australia Pty., Ltd., and has imported some American bands and acts for local tours. First of these is Jay Whidden, Sylvia Sefton and Lawrence Brookes from Hollywood, opening here at the Palais, St. Kilda, Mel- bourne, Oct. 1, one of the class spots, with some 10 weeks of bookings into the Tivoll houses to follow. Camp- bell also has a deal on with Roy Fox's band from London, and other attractions. ITALY'S JEWISH RULES ASCAF Studies Possible Influences on American Composers Foreign relations committee of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is slated to meet during the current week to dis- cuss the action taken by the Italian Fascist government against Jewish composer-s and how this will affect the ASCAP catalog in that country.. Society has no intention of entering into any reprisals, but it is interested in finding out whether this discrimi- nation will seriously affect its rev- nue from Italy. Also due to come up is the mat- ter of a contract with Esthonia and various contractual problems that have arisen in Sweden and other European countries. Society of European Stage Authors and Composers has authorized Harry Fox, of the Music Publishers Protec- tive Association, to act for it as agent and trustee in licensing transcription and synchronization rights. Assign- ment gives Fox the most extensive agency of its kind in this country. He also clears the mechanical rights of publishers affiliated with the American Society of Composers, Au- thors and Publishers and the syn- chronization rights of the catalogs controlled by Associated Music Pub- lishers, Inc. Rights deriving from SESAC also cover phonograph records. Music Notes Max Gordon and Harry Revel completed seven numbers for 'Thanks for Everything' at 20th- Fox. Rudy Scoter sold his western ditty, 'Haunting M'elodies,' to Republic for a Roy Rogers picture. Walter Lantz bought the ditty, 'I'm Just a Jitterbug,' from its publishers, Kalmar and Ruby, for his animated cartoon. Cy Feuer and Ralph Kraushaar scoring 'I Stand Accused' at Repub- lic. Heinz Roemhold's military march, written for Warners 'Brother Rat,' adopted by Virginia Military Insti- tute. I Fewer Amateur Songs Turned k; May Be Sign of Prosperity Third Quarter Based on 12c a Point Instead of 19c the Publishers Anticipated — Up ping Lower - Bracket Writers THEY PROTEST Paul Whlteman m.c.'d Raymond Scott's first nitery date, opening last night (Tuesday) at LeMirage, N. Y. The Scott quintet will only perform after theatre. Ralph Peer Swings'Axe Ralph Peer, head of Southern Music Co., last week applied the axe to the professional department of his subsid, Schuster-Miller, Inc., leaving but one survivor. Bob Miller. Miller goes directly on the payroll of South- «rn Mijsic, while Ira Schuster is out of the firm altogether. StM has been the popular division of Peer's music interests. Southern confines itself to standard works. Jimmy Tolson, new West Coast representative of Green' Brothers & Knight, music publishers. Bud Thayer, collaborator with Vincent Lopez on a song tagged 'Sista Para Toot,' is Lucien Thayer, picture editor of the Boston Globe. Ditty is derived from a Swedish folk game, 'Sista Paret Ut.' Hawaiian Writer Renewed Edward B, Marks Music Corp. has renewed the rights to 'Sing of the Islands' with its writer Charles E. King of Honolulu. Marks also renewed the rights to another of King's numbers, 'King's Serenade.' Bill Weimann, gen. .sales mgr. of Marks handled the negotiations with King personally in a stopover at Honolulu, while on a combo biz- pleasure jaunt. He's on his way to the Orient. I Franz Waxman scoring four pic- tures at two studios: 'Dramatic I School,' 'The Shining Hour' and 'A Christmas Carol' for Metro, and 'The Young in Heart' for Selznick-Inter- national. Credit value - per - performance - point for publishers took a sharp dive in the distribution of the third quarterly dividend by the American. Society of Coniposers, Authors and Publishers last week, with the re- sult that the finances of a number of small firms were thrown out of gear. This latter contingent had been figuring its income oh the basis of 19c a performance point, while the payoff figured 12c a point. Where the serious r.ub entered was that the payola element had made their deals with bandleaders on the expectation that they continue to get 19c, thereby making it profitable to do business with the plug at a rate of around 10c a point. Difference in the per performance rate had been caused by the Society's extension of the accumulated num- ber of points as a base for the third quarter's payoff. This base for the second quarter had been 1,600,000 points, whereas in the next quarter it was increased to 2,087,000 points. With the third quarter's royalty plum just about what it was the pre- vious quarter and 25% more accu- mulated plugs to consider in the bookkeeping, it was natural that the credit value per performance would drop. Such was the explanation publishers got when they called ASCAP to express their chagrin at the 35% dip in the credit value per performance point and io ask what had happened. Can Figure Publisher who 'makes a habit of paying for his plugs has a pretty good idea of the number of stations that the broadcast which includes his tune will go over. By knowing what the Society will pay off on per point, or station, the pub can estimate how much he can afford to pay for the plug and at the same time make a profit. When at the end of three months he finds that he had left no margin for himself the,.result can be quite embarrassing financially. In- dications are that the Society will continue to expand this performance accumulative base, if only as a de- vice to stop publishers from cutting in bandleaders on their plug collec- tions. Distribution by ASCAP for the third quarter of this year was $38,- 000 more than it was for the like period of 1938. The value per avail- ability remained at about where it has been for the past year, $14. Double A writers this time got $3,600, in comparison with the $3,900 they cqjlected for the parallel period of 1938. This drop was due to the circumstance that the writers' classi- fication committee has been more ac- tive in boosting the ratings of the members in the lower brackets. Committee at its late September meeting granted tilts in rating to over 40 writers in the Class B to F levels. Job of analyzing mor« and more network and local station programs to determine the' per performance base Is expected to increase the over- head of ASCAP appreciably. It's become one of the most expensive I items in the Society's bookkeeping or statistical operations. Soprano's Break Philadelphia, Oct. 18. Break for the sopranos was revealed by RCA-Victor engi- neers here this week. Chirp- ers, who never could get their voices disked acceptably, are now to be done right by. Harold J, Hasbrouck, Jr., of the RCA staff, announced to the Institute of Radio Engineers that new recording equipment has been developed registering vibrations up to 10,000 a sec- ond, representing an increased range of a whole octave. I Eddie Cherkose and Bill Lava are doing two songs for 'Strongheart' at Republic. Buddy De Sylva wrote 'Wishing Will Make It True* for 'Love Affair' at RKO. ! Roy Webb is .scoring three pic- ' tares, 'Law West of Tombstone,' i (Continued on page 43) Jimmy Dorsey Hurt Omaha, Oct. 18. I Jimmy Dorsey suffered painful in- juries in an auto accident on the I highway near Omaha when he drove I his car into the ditch to avoid col- j lision with a truck. • Despite his injuries hs proceeded to Norfolk. Neb., and directed his band at a dance there. NEW SLANTS ON CHI AIR FEE TO HOTELS Chicago, Oct. 18. While there is a tendency among hotel men to call off their present year's agreement not to use remote control wires which «nds Jan. 17, the stations are now taking the attitude that they got along without the hotels all these months and can con- tinue to do so after Jan. 17. Hotel association has been steadfastly loyal to agreement among' themselves not to pay the $100 weekly fee that the stations last year asked in order to defray the cost of putting in remote control wires. Several stations men are in favor of putting the service figure at $250 after January 1, feeling that this charge in minor compared to the publicity they give the hotels. On their hand the hotel men insist that they give the stations more value in entertainment than they return in publicity service. Many band leaders have offered to pay this fee themselves in order to obtain the wire but have been re- strained from this by union regula- tions. Hotels face a booking prob- lem due to this situation, with the orchestra leaders, who formerly fought for Chicago dates, now veer- ing away frotn the town due to the lack of wires. MUSIC CRAFTSMEN SEEK WAGE TILTS Elliott Shapiro has been appointed chairman of the committee assigned by the Music Publishers Protective Association to study the terms of the new contract for arrangers, copyists and proofreaders which has been submitted by the New York music- ians union. This committee will re- port on the significance of the de- mands to the publishing trade as a whole in two or three weeks. Union is asking for wage increases all along the line. Present agree- ment expires at the end of this year. Music publishers are assuming from the downward trend in the number of manuscripts contributed by amateur songwriters that general employment is improving. Mail from aihnateurs has been steadily falling off ill. recent weeks, a situa-; tion which is in sharp contrast with" what has happened during the past 10 months. As business cohditions grew worse the inflow from this source moimted. With even the smaller firms the- amateur entries - average 40 manu- scripts a week. At one point in the recession these contributions came in a± the rate of 90 to 130 a week. Most publishers make a practice of not opening this sort of mail^ unless they are unable to spot the contents. Others won't opea it if the envelope lacks a return address, .while a negligible* percentage examines everything that cpnies in with the hope of finding tnat song in a mil- lion. Reason for the general shying away from amateur entries is the fear of infringement complications. Publishers say that the possibility of being bitten by a court action has discouraged them from having, any- thing to do with amateurs, even if they come recommended by a mutual friend or acquaintance. As long as an amateur can show that his manu- script had been -acknowledged by a publisher there is nothing to pre- vent him from becoming a prospec- tive litigant, these pubs point out A rewriting of the melody or words in his script is a simple matter for the am° and he can claim* that a successful number published sub- sequently has much in common with the song .that he had submitted to' the same firm. ASCAP Hearing Delayed Seattle, Oct. 16, After brief hearing of five damage suits against Seattle dance hall and tavern operators for alleged in- fringement of copyrights held by ASCAP, Federal Judge Edward Ei Cushman in Tacoma on Friday con- tinued hearings until later date after submission of briefs. These suits were pending before injunction pro- ceedings brought by ASCAP earlier in year attacking Washington State I Law. That action was dismissed. 'Barber Shop Qiord' Is AnoAer Com;iScated Renewal Controversy ,'Play That Barber Shop Chord' is the latest tune to become involved in a copyiright renewal controversy. Two f^ms that are doing the argu- ing over which now owns the lyric rights are Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., and E. B. Marks. Later bas6s its claim on a bankruptcy assignment that was made in 1911. Number it- self was identified lor many years with the late Bert Williams. 'Barber Shop Chord'' was copy» righted originally flnfllO by the J. Fred Helf Co., with the words credited to Williapi Tracy and the music to Lewis P. Muir. Shortly afterwards Joseph W. Stirri & Co., a publishing house which Marks eventually acquired, sued Helf on the ground that Ballard MacDonald hrd written the lyric. Court decided in Stern's favor, but before ludgment could be taken the Helf firm went into bankruptcy. Elihu Root, Jr., trustee for the bankrupt, assigned the copyright io Stern, whose publication of the song never mentioned MacDonald as the lyric writer. When the time came for renewing the number, the Alfred Music Co. obtained the melody rights throui^h Muir's estate and Shapiro got the lyric rights from Tracy. While there was no renewal in MacDonr'dL's name, Shapiro claimed it had that right, anyway, because it had ac- quired from MacDonald and his widow an assignment of the renewal rights to all his works. Shapiro now contends that all Stern got from Root was an assignment limited to a con- tractual obligation, but having noth-, ing to do with privileges ?.3cruing from a rejgistered copyright. Jed Buell bought Fred Slrykcr's , song, 'I'm the Son of a Jitterbug I Mama,' for use in the Mack Sennett 1 picture, 'The Problem Child.' Two Leave R-O'K Hollywood, Oct. 18. Harmon Nelson resij^ned after two years with the Rockwell-O'Keefe agency. He is Bette Davis' husband. Reg Marshall, head of the R-O'K band department, also resigned. He is going on the road as manager «rf the Floyd Ray band.