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- fore, although a higher rate would be warranted, the committee has endeavored to facilitate the progress of this legislation by preserving, to the extent possible in view of other provisions of this bill, the rate adopted by the House of Representatives.
Limitations on exclusive right
The compulsory licensing provisions in section 116 have been patterned after those in section 115, although there are differences. One difference occurs in the first subsection: section 116(a) not only provides "the operator of the coin-operated phonorecord player" with the opportunity of obtaining "a compulsory license to perform the work publicly on that phonorecord player," but also exempts entirely under certain conditions "the proprietor of the establishment in which the public performance takes place." As provided by clause (1), the proprietor is not liable for infringement unless he is also "the operator 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 he 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 of 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 a coin." The dimension 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
