Page:H.R. Rep. No. 94-1476 (1976) Page 114.djvu

 of the phonorecord player” or unless he refuses or fails to disclose the operator’s identity upon request.

As defined in section 116(e)(2), an “operator” is anyone who, alone or jointly: (1) owns a coin-operated phonorecord player; (2) “has the power to make the *** player available for placement in an establishment for purposes of public performance”; and (3) “has the power to exercise primary control over the selection of the musical works made available for public performance” in the machine. Several different persons may be “operators” of the same coin-operated phonorecord player under this definition, but they would not include the “location owner” in the ordinary case where that person merely provides a place for the machine to be used.

In contrast to the present statute, which merely refers to a “coin-operated machine,” section 116(e)(1) of the bill contains a detailed definition of “coin-operated phonorecord player.” Under the definition a machine or device would be considered a “coin-operated phonorecord player” only if it meets all four specified conditions.


 * 1. It must be used for no purpose other than the “performance of nondramatic musical works by means of phonorecords” and, in order to perform that function, it must be “activated by the insertion of coins, currency, tokens, or other monetary units or their equivalent.” The definition would thus exclude coin-operated radio and television sets, as well as devices similar to jukeboxes that perform musical motion pictures.


 * 2. The establishment where the machine is located must make “no direct or indirect charge for admission.” This requirement, which has its counterpart in section 1(e) of the present law, would exclude establishments making cover or minimum charges, and those “clubs” open to the public but requiring “membership fees” for admission.


 * 3. The phonorecord player must be “accompanied by a list of the titles of all musical works available for performance on it,” and the list must either be affixed to the machine itself or “posted in the establishment in a prominent position where it can be readily examined by the public.” This condition would not be satisfied if the list is available only on request.


 * 4. Finally, the machine must provide “a choice of works available for performance,” and must allow “the choice to be made by the patrons of the establishment in which it is located.” Thus, a machine that merely provides continuous music without affording any choice as to the specific composition to be played at a particular time, or a case where selections are made by someone other than patrons of the establishment, would be outside the scope of the definition.

Clause (2) of section 116(a) provides that a jukebox operator may obtain a compulsory license to perform copyrighted works complying with the requirements of this section.

Procedures

Section 116(b)(1) sets forth the requirements that an operator must observe in order to obtain a compulsory license. The operator is required to file in the Copyright Office an application containing certain information and deposit with the Register of Copyrights an $8 royalty fee for each box. If performances on a particular box