Variety (Sep 1942)

Wednesdayt September 2, 1942 MORE PLUGGERS i MUSIC 49 Iritish Govt Pays BPRS for Songs In Films By and For Armed Forces The British Performing Rights Society disclosed to ASCAP re- cently that it (the BPRS) has an ar- rangement with the British War De- partment and Entertainment Na- tional Service Department whereby the BPRS receives payments for film exhibition to the forces. This information was included in a letter notifying ASCAP about a letter that the BPRS had received from the chief signal officer of the U. S. Army. The signal corps had written the BPRS that it was using some BPRS- controUed tunes in~ some pictures end it wanted to know how the rights could be cleared. The BPRS wrote back that ASCAP had blanket authority to grant such rights in the U. S. and also to determine the terms. In commenting on the letter from the BPRS, Paine said Monday (24) that what impressed him particu- larly was the obvious determination of the British government not to let down the men who write its coun- try's music but to render them sup- port even in times of dire emergency. 'ST. L BLUES' BACK TO HANDY SEPT. 11 W. C. Handy has advised the trade that the renewal right of his copyright on The St. Louis Blues' becomes effective Sept. 11, 1942, and that all the various rights on the song that were held by other publishers will rev?rt to him on that date. Handy has his own firm. Handy Bros. Mu- sic Co., Inc. Melrose Bros. Mu.«ic Co. has been publishing the or- chestrations and Alfred Music Co. instrumental solos. Similar reversions will become effective Dec. 2, 1942, in the case of another Handy composition, 'The Yellow Dog Blues.' Loper to Stage Copa But Won't Be in It Don Loper will again costume and stage Monte Proser's new Copaca- bana, N. Y., nitery revue this fall, but will not be in-it. He's commit- ted to a Metro film chore, opposite Ginger Rogers in 'Lady in the Dark." Coincidentally, Loper's dance partner, Maxine Barrat, becomes Fred Astaire's dancing vis-a-vis in a forthcoming Columbia musical, providing her tests click. 15 Best Sheet Music Seflers (Weeic of Aug. 29) Wears Silver Wings Shapiro My Devotion Santly Left Heart Canteen Army Jingle Jangle Paramount Always in Heart Remick Idaho Mills Sleepy Lagoon Chappell Army Air Corps C. Fischer Kalamazoo BVC Who Wouldn't Love Maestro Johnny Doughboy Crawford Careful My Heart Berlin One Dozen Roses Famous . Worth Fighting For Harms As Though You Here Yankee BMI Not Seeking To Raid ASCAP List Of Writers, Says Kaye New York. Editor, "Variety": Since Mr. John Paine, in your Issue of Aug. 26, accuses me of trying to build up-a situation whereby BMI can raid ASCAP for writers, I think that the position of BMI should be made clear. BMI does not own any writers; neither doe.<! ASCAP. Writers are in the business of getting their songs published. The more publishers there are, the better off the writer is. BMI is not interested in raiding ASCAP. It is interested In publish- ing music. It offers another outlet to the song writer. It is obviously in the interest of the song writer that there should be as many com- petitive outlets as possible. No writer should be found to any group or clique of publishers. He .>:hould be free to submit his works to anyone for publication and to ac- cept the best offer that he can get. BMI is leady to compete upon that basis. We resent the implication that ASCAP or anyone else owns a stable of writers and that if anyone else offers to publish a work of one of these writers, it constitutes a raid. Sydney M. Kaye, (Brqadcast Music, Inc.) E. Y. Harburc and Harold Arlen cleffed 'Little Black Sheep,' 'Conse- quences,' 'I Gotta Song' and "Happi- ness Is a Thing Called Joe' for the Metro picture, 'Cabin in the Sky.' y Progressive Loss of Contact, men Results in Publishers Raiding One Another's Staffs — List of Unem- ployed Exhausted 1-WAY UNION RULE Progressive loss of professional men to the armed services has caused such a shortage of this class of em- ployee that publishers are raiding one another's staffs. Some publish- ers have protested to the contact- men's ■ union about this constant switching from job to job, but the union holds there is nothing in the basic agreement between union and employers that prevents an employee from bettering himself whenever the opportunity presents itself. Pub- lishers, however, are barred under this same agreement from negotiat- ing with a prospective contactman unless the employee to be replaced has received his notice. The union's list of unemployed is now practically exhausted, and some publishers foresee a far more con- siderable use of women for contact work. There are quite a number of women who already hold mem- bership in this union. 'IRISH EYES' TO U.S.S11P.C00RT John Schulman, as counsel for George Graff, Jr., and the Fred Fisher Music Co., has applied to the U. S. supreme court for a writ of certiorari in the case of "When Irish Eyes Are Smijing.' M. Witmark, one of the Warner Bros, publishing group, has tak^n two lower court de- cisions in this dispute over the in- tent of the renewal provision in the copyright law. Witmark succe'-fully enjoined Fisher from carrying through a deal for the renewal rights to "Irish Eyes' after it (Witmark) had produced a earlier renewal assignment it had obtained from Graff. Schulman does not question the authenticity of Wit- mark's assignment, but does contend that this prior assignment was no ASCAP Loses Wisconsin Suits; U.S. Judge Upholds Constitutionality Of State Law Which Society Ignores ASCAP to Appeal ASCAP will lake an appeal from the decision last week of Federal Judge L. B. Schwellen- bach in Milwaukee to the circuit court of appeals, it was dis- closed Monday (31), by Louis Frohlich, of Society counsel. The Society will again main- tain that the Wisconsin statute imposing a state tax on music licensing fees is unconstitutional, and that even if the tax were constitutional a state law cannot interfere with a federal statute, in this case, the copyright act. Publisher Bobbins Has Phonograph Disc Label In Mind for Future Jack Robbms is talking with Decca Records to release his Lion brand disk via Decca, akin to the United Artists film releasing system. Rob- has been uneven. Next bigest week bins sees himself as a publisher pio- neering in the disk business. When conditions normalize, Robbins avers that many a big music publisher will go into the disk business. As a matter of fact he points to Decca as being a Warner Bros, af- fliliate in part, with Herman Starr, head of Music Publishers Holding Corp., on the board of directors; and B. G. DeSylva's new Capitol Records giyes Paramount an in, by proxy, al- though it is strictly a DeSylva ven- ture, sans P^r capital. Robbins argues that with bandmen going more and more into the music publishing business, he doesn't see why the publisher shouldn't protect himself by making his own disk label; encouraging new bands who will "cooperate," which is another way (from the publisher's view- point) of saying that the maestros have become too dictatorial to the music pubs. good because It was Issued within the first 27 years of the original copy- right term, or before 'the renewal actually became available. Witmark's counter argument Is that a renewal assignment obtained any time within the 27 years is valid so long as the writer was still alive on the date of renewability, the first day of the 28th year. Milwaukee, Sept. 1. Injunction suits grouped in Fed- eral district court here by the American Society of Composer.s, Authors & Publishers against six Wisconsin tavern keepers and dance- hall operators, seeking permanently to enjoin them from playing ASCAP music, were dismissed Saturday (29) in a decision handed down by Judge Lewis B. Schwellenbach, of Spokane, Wash., who was called in to hear the cases last June when Judge F. Ryan Duffy disqualified himself and withdrew after declar- ing that he had been accu.sed of prejudice against the plaintiffs. Judge Schwellenbach upheld the constitutionality of the Wisconsin state law, which requires ASCAP to pay the state 25% of its grass revenues. The court found that neither ASCAP nor the suing pub- lishers had complied with the stat- ute, a fact that had previously been conceded by E. F. Hartman of Chi- cago, general western counsel for ASCAP, and Robert A. Hess, local counsel, who all along had con- tended that the Wisconsin law was unconstitutional. In dismissing the ASCAP suits, which had asked damages ,of $250 each in six cases, in addition to the injunctions for alleged playing of copyrighted music without payment of the customary fees to ASCAP, Judge Schwellenbach said: "I cannot permit this court (o be used to further a deliberate viola- tion of-a statute of the state of Wis- consin." ■ Fred R. Wright, legal rep for the Wisconsin Tavern Keepers Assn.. which fought the ASCAP suits, moved for the dismissal, claiming that ASCAP had not complied with the law that provides that nn one may Issue licenses to play copy- righted music in Wisconsin until that person or corporation obtains a license from the Wisconsin sec- retary of state. Wright asserted that the decision, as he interpreted it, meant that ASCAP could not prosecute anybody for playing its music in Wisconsin unless it obtained a license from the secretary of state, as the law requires. Hess said he did not be- lieve the decision was that far- reaching, but wanted time to study it further, and declared that an ap- peal would be made as a matter of course. iBaaBaBBaBBaaaaBaaaaa«BaBB«aBBBaBBaaaaBBBaBaBaBaBaaBB8aB8aaavBaaaaaBaaaaaB«aaaaaBBBBaB8BBaBB*Ba«aBBaBa««B«aBB«a«aaaaaaaaaa. .■AaaBa*a«aaaaBaaaaa«aaaB*BB**«*B«*BaaaBa«avaaBVBBB#BaaB#a*B«BaaaaaaaaaaavaaaaaaaaBa#B«BaB»»B«aaaaaftaa««aaaaaaaBaaaBaaa*aa< TH€ GREAT AMEniCAN BALLAD / • a!••••>•aaaaaa••••a«aa*«aaa*aafaa»faaaaa«« ••■••BaB*Baaa«aaBBaaa***«aa*8ataaaaa*Baia«» MANHATTAN i c b y rl e r o i cl / i d a m s o n ^OOLMoi- ...Oi' / v I u J I c o y L o (/ (; Alt..' RAY MeKlHLEY R0B9INS MUSIC CORPORATION 799 Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y. MURRAY BAKER, Prof. Msr.'