Variety (Dec 1939)

Wf«lnrB«luy. December 13, 1939 MUSIC—DANCE BANDS VARIETY 37 PRIDE HURTS ONE-NIGMRS Why Publishers Die Young BldTifc Mnrslro, New York City■ Dear Blank; One can almost smell a hit, and I have one without fxaticeration. It's definitely the first big smash hit of .1940 and the title is 'Blank.' Would you be kind enoutih to program it as quickly us possible tor me? I will genuinely appreciale it. Kind personal regards. Joe Publisher. Joe Piiblii/ioT, New York City. Have been wondering about the peculiar odor aroimd my office. Now that your wire regarding the smelling of a lime has definitely cleaved up this mystery I am sendin;' you back post haste one 'Blank' which, you so aptly pointed out, stinks. Sincerely, BIdiilc Maestro. Songwriters Ultimatum Got Action Leading Publishers Chose Warner Contract Mostly In Preference to Other Document Uiulir Ihe pressure of an ulli- malum stl for last Monday (11) the majorily of publishers have entered info agreements for a new standard writor>' contract with the Song- writers Prolcrlive Association. With two forms of contracts to choose from, most of the pubs accepted the one that the Warner Bros, group had nenotiated with the SPA last Oc- tober. Indications are that every major publisher will have his con- tract on (lie with the association by the end of this week. Reason thai most of the publishers prererred (he WB form to the one that Julian T. Abelcs had negotiated recently in behalf of the Metro- Robbins (troup was because the lorihec form contained a provision which states that should the SPA make a contract granting more fa- vorable terms to another publisher the signator of Form No. 1 will be entitled to the same favorable terms. Both forms of agreement are only enforceable until May 1, 1940. The publisher may at that time either ask that the instrument be rewritten or pick up his option on the same agreement for another seven years. Among tho.«e that had accepted the Warner Bros, form by yesterday ^TlleKday» were Sliapiro, Bernstein & Co., Mill.'; Music. Inc., Irving Berlin, Inc., Aacr, Ycllcn & Bornstein, Olman Music Co.. E. B. Marks, the Max Dreyfii.s group, and Mercer & Morri.":. The Berlin and A, Y&B contracts were not approved by the SPA be- cause each contained a rider clarify- ing the 'favored nations' clause which had been attached by the firms' cour).scl. Krancis Gilbert. The SPA look the position that the Louis Morris, 77, Dies I.ouis (Cully) Morris, 71, one of the five brothers who organized the former Joe Morris Music Co., died in Miami Dec. . 6. He was secretary and treasurer of the firm but devoted himself exclusively to the brothers' jobbing division in Philadelphia. The only brother now surviving is Joe, who resides in Florida. Other brothers were Hymie, Sol and Mark. Surviving also is his widow and a daughter. Bill Jacobs, of Sam Fox's sales staff, ij the latter's hus- band. Burial was in Philadelphia Monday (U). NOT OPPOSING SHOTWELL BILL {Publishers and Recor£ng Artists May Co-Administer Coin Machine Fees Orchestras Fail to Distinguish BoxofFice Advantages Possessed by Rivals Con- sidered No Better Musi- cally — Want Same Price HURTING TOURS Janies Leaves Berlin Hollywood, Dec. 12. Eddie Janies, West Coast represen- tative of the Irving Berlin Music Co.. resigned after three years. He is lining up new connection in New York. Board of directors of the Music Publishers" Protective Association last week went on record as offering no opposition to the SholwcU copyright bill as it now stands. The board meeting did question whfether it would be good judgment at this time for the United States to bccotne a party to the Berne copyright conven- tion, not merely because of present international relations but because membership would require drastic readjustment in the U. S. law. Di- rectors o£ the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers had the week before voted its ap- riiler's verbiage was too involved for I proval of the Sho'.well measure, the association and that it \ypuld I At the same MPPA meeting Ed- prefer to have its counsel issue let- | win K. (Buddy) Morris was re- r ters covering the same subject. Publishers which took the Abeles form, included Santly-Joy-Selcct, Inc., Southern Music Co., Schuster te Miller and Lccd.? Music Co. The more important point"; that distin- guished the two forms of agree- ment were as follows: 1. Under the WB form there can ^ no bulk deals for any rights! outside of sheet music. The Abelc.s i form requires that .such deals may be made with the written consent of Ihe .SPA. 2. Under the provision dealing with television and other rights not known now, the Warner form states that no such license can be granted without the consent of the writer. The Abeles form says that it can't he done without the written consent « the SPA in behalf of the writer "> each in.'Jlance. The Abelcs form declares that 'he publisher .«hall not grant a phonograph license for less than the statutory rale (2c) without the con- of the SPA. The WB version S'lenl on the subject. . elected president, Lester Santly was named v.p., Jack Mills, secretary, and Jack Bregman, treasurer. DR. WILLY GROSZ DIES WHILE PLAYING PIANO Short-sightedness of band leaders, complain the booking offices, is re- sponsible not only for driving more and more dancehall owners out of business but for appreciably dimin- ishing their own annual income. The average band's only yardstick as to its own boxoffice vdlue is what some other band got on the same date. The leader isn't interested in his comparative drawing power. All he knows is that so-and-so got so much and certainly his band is as good as the other fellow and there's no rea- son why he should not get the same amount. This line of reasoning and action, say the band agents, has developed a species of high-pressure tactics that is bound in due time to curtail seriously the amount of one-nighteil^ work. A band hears that its office has booked another orchestra into a traveling engagement for a guar- antee of $750 or $1,000 as against 60% of the night's take and it de- mands the same terms or it won't got out. As the result of this situ- ation the average promoter is in the red after a few name band importations and he gambles along until his bankroll runs out or until he runs out of loan sources. There was a time, recall the agents, when a band up on the crest or near it would bs. content with $150 or $200 a night, if it could be assured of an almost unbroken tour, but now the units in the No. 2 and 3 ranks hold out for the $750 or $1,000 which some toprater had recently re- ceived in the same .spot, even though they realize that the price means j a loss for the dancehall operator. The same conditions, stale the bookers apply to the theatre field. Some operators with several houses decided to try out a name' band policy. He starts off with the or- chestra in the upper popularity brackets and does a nice business. It is when he turns ■ to the orches- tras in the nether levels that his headaches really matcriali/.e. The latter units want to know what the booking office got for the initial batch and it is by these top figures , that they pitch their demands. The circuit operator p.nys but it isn't , long before he starts losing money, [ and in a few weeks he has chucked his band policy, altogether. MPPA AVOIDS DISC TANGLE Music Publishers ProlectivCjAsso ciation will not attempt to intervene in the appeal on the RCA Victor- Paul Whiteman case which is cur- rently before the U. S. circuit court of appeals, N. Y. Decision not to take any part in the test suit over the right to broadcast phonograph rec- ords, at least for the time being, was made at a meeting of the MPPA's board. Julian T. Abeles, counsel for the Metro-Robbins group, has de- clared his intention to file a brief in behalf of his client, but so fat he hasn't done anything in that direc- tion. Victor last week failed in its ef- fort to eliminate WNEW, N. Y., as a party to the appeal. The disc manu- factur had asked the circuit court to dismiss WNEW's application as an appellant but the court took the view that the issues were so com- plicated that it would be best to hear the arguments of all sides of the case. The appellants have until Dec. 21 to file their records and the chances are that oral arguments won't be heard until February. SAM FOX CO. GENERALLY mm $ioo,ooo.suiT The Sam Fox Publishing Co., filed a general denial in N. Y. federal court Wednesday (6) to the $100,000 action against them by Frank J. Pall- ma, Jr., and Stanley Warner. A counter-action for $3,568 was also filed, based on alleged non-payment of a promissory note. The first suit claims that the plain- tiff sold their Pallma Music Publish- ing Co., of Chicago, to Fox, They seek payment of royalties on for- eign rights, mechanical reproduction rights, film rights and radio rights. Book publishing royalties, failure to list the plaintiffs' songs in the mu- sical catalog of the defendant;:, failure to pay certain debts, and failure to keep special accounts take up the balance of the action. Danny Collins to General Danny Collins has given up agent- '"8 on his own to rejoin the General Amusement Corp. This time it is in •he band department. c-nM^i"'"^ booking office a couple yc.irs ago. iiiX'^'*/ composing, violin Dr. Wilhelm (Willv) Crosz wht., as the Anglicized 'Hugh Williams" (his .name translated, and rever.^ed) wrote .several international son;; hits from London, died suddenly of a heart attack at the home of friends in Forest Hills, N. suburb, Sat- urday night (S")T 'Me" was 45. A refugee Austrian, he went to England shortly after Hilltr's ri.st in 1033. With Jimmy Kennedy, for the Peter Maurice Co., he composed 'Isle of Capri.' 'Red Sails in the "Sun- sef and 'Harbor Lights." which be- came world-wide hits following.their original publication in London. Grosz al.so did the scores of several foreign films and a fortnight ago signed with Warner Bros, lo write tunes. While spending a musical evening at the home of Werner Liebman, on Saturday, he accompanied Irene Jcssncr, of the Melropolitan Opera. Hansi and Ilosi Book. They had iust reached the final words of the final trio from 'Der Rosenkavalicr," and at the words, 'In Goel's Name,' Dr. Rrosz fell backward into the arms of his friend.s. His mother, widow *nd two chil- dren survive. Investigating Radio Lines Wants Facts on Whether Bandleaders Pay for Net Wires and $3 Union Tax From Own Pockets Indications were given at a mtel- ing of Local 802"s executive board yc.-terday (Tuesday) that the union will soon embark on a wholesale in- vestigation of the remote broadcast line situation in New York City. Under the proposed inquiry band leaders who have network or station lines emanating from their current spots would be called before the board to tell whether they are pay- ln.!j for the lines themselves and whether the $3 broadcast tax for each man in the unit is coming out of their own pockets. U is anticipated that the majority of such bands will give an affirmative answer. The local'.'; probe will be actuated not by one of its own rc.^ulatlons, but a rule handed down by the execu- tive board of the American Federa- tion of Mu'-icians last summer which helrl lh.it it was unfair eompclition for any member to advertise himself on the radio. The AFM board took the position that the circumstance that a band was able to advertise over the air constituted an unfair ad- vantage over others that could not afford to do the same thing. Ft Wayne Udiod Elects Ft. Wayne, Dec. 12. H. James Flack, attorney, has been elected president of the Fort Wayne Musicians Union for the sixth con- secutive year. . W. M. Sayer was elected v.p. and Robert A. Jcllison, secretary-treasurer. C. G. Bchmcr, Perry A. Shober, Leo Stucky, and P. T. Weaver were named members of the executive board. Publishers and 'interpretive' artists last week moved another step toward an alliance between them on the proposal to co-administer the collec- tion of special fees on phonograph records used in cOin-operated ma- chines. Lawyers representing sev- eral major publishers met at the Music Publishers Protective Associa- tion's offices and voicc^ the opinion that such'amalgamation of mterested parties would be legal and practical. The next move will be to settle the question as to how the proceeds are to be shared. The interpretive artists have suggested making it 50-50, but it is understood that the writers will insist that they be considered sepa- rately and that the split be made an equal third for them, the publishers and the interpretive artists.' Under the new contract between publishers and the Songwriters Protective Asso- ciation the former are required to consult the SPA or their writers on any deals excepting sheet music. U.S. MUSIC PUBS IN DUTCH' ON SONG THEFTS Method of protecting musical copyrights from piracy in the Neth- erlands is being sought by publishers here as the result of recent high court rulings in The Hague that works of United States writers are not covered there by reciprocal agreements. Shapiro-Bernstein, in collabora- tion with the Music Publishers Pro- tective Association, has assigned its counsel, Alfred Beekman, of House, Grossman, Vorhaus & Hemley, to study the possibilities for gaining protection in Holland. Latter is not considered a major market, but MPPA fears to allow alleged piracy to take place in any country, no mat- ter how minor, on the basis It may lead to bad precedent in other coun- tries. Upsetting Shapiro-Berhsleirt is the recent ruling of a Dutch tribunal against 20th Century-Fox Film on 'Daddy Long Legs,' which was made into a Dutch picture without permis- sion. Court held that any work to ba considered piracy-proof under the Berne pact, basic international copyright treaty, must actually be published in a country signatory lo the agreement. United States is not Merely issuing the work in the coun- try or distributing it through a iin- live firm is not enough, court held, but the actual physical work of printing must be (l-Dne there to make the copyright valid under the re- ciprocal arrangement concerning the Berne treaty which U. S. has with Holland. TREHY MAIDEN' SONG SUIT VS. BILLY ROSE Another action involving the 'Flo- radora Sextet' song, 'Tell Me Pretty Maiden," was filed in the N. Y. su- preme court Friday (3) by April Productions, Inc. (Shuberts), against Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, In<;. Action wa.s di.sclosed by an ap- plication to examine Ro.se before trial. Suit seeks $23,000 damages and an injunction, and claims the unautho- rized use of the sextet in Rose's night club. A general denial is the greater part of the answer, with an affirma- tive dcfen.se, claiming the sextet has been in the public domain since 1927, when the copyright ran out.