THE MCTGA N DAILY
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THE MICHIGAN DAILY
THE ASCAP WAR
By EDMUND J. GROSSBERG
W HAT'S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?
This is the question that millions of radio
411
Edited and managed by students of the University of
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Editorial Staff
Hervie Haufler
Alvin Sarasohn
Paul M. Chandler
Karl Kesslerj
Milton Orshefsky
Howard A. Goldman
Laurence Mascott
Donald Wirtchafter
Esther Osser
Helen Corman
. . . . Managing Editor
. . . . Editorial Director
. . . . City Editor
Associate Editor
. . . . Associate Editor
Associate Editor
* . . Associate Editor
S . . . . Sports Editor
. . . . .Women's Editor
* . . Exchange Editor
Business Staff
Business Manager
Assistant Business Manager
Women's Business Manager
Women's Advertising Manager
. Irving Guttman
. Robert Gilmour
. Helen Bohnsack
. . ,Jane Krause
NIGHT EDITOR: DAVE LACHENBRUCH
The editorials published in The Michi-
gan Daily are written by members of The
Daily staff and represent the views of the
writers only.
Political Parties
Face A Test ..
POLITICAL PARTIES here in Mich-
igan will have, during the next few
months, perhaps their greatest chance to prove
that they do deserve a place in state gov-
ernment.
From time to time certain reformers have
raised the cry that state elections should be
non-partisan. In two states-Nebraska and
Minnesota-these cries have been heeded. The
legislatures of each are elected with no regard
to party affiliations. The major argument for
this system is that state affairs have no rela-
tionship to national policies and, therefore,
state officials should not be elected under na-
tional party labels.
TOA CERTAIN EXTENT this is true. Yet in
recent years the federal and state govern-
ments hqve become more and more closely knit
together. The policies of one have come to de-
pend mre on the policies of the other. And,
thus, has come a greater need for political par-
ties in the state. Charles A. Beard, the noted
historian, tells us that many important prob-
lems cannot be solved "without the cooperation
of the state and national government, and the
solution of these problems calls for state and
national parties."
Here in Michigan a Democratic governor and
a Republican legislature have just taken offie.
It is up to them to prove that the supporters
of the party system have been right in their
belief that it is beneficial to state government.
If they spend their time bickering with each
other over affairs which have nothing to do
with party policies and concern the welfare of
the state and the nation, people are all too apt
to come to the conclusion that political parties
should be abolished in purely state elections.
ON THE OTHER HAND, if the Democrat in
the governor's mansion and the Republicans
in the Capitol Building consent to cooperate
with one another, not only will the state and
the nation benefit but so will both political par-
ties. Neither can win by playing the role of
an obstructivist.
Governor Van Wagoner gave verbal evidence
in his inaugural address of his willingness to
cooperate when he said, "Men without jobs,
children on crutches don't care for party labels.
Nor does a nation that is arming to defend its
faith in itself, its people, and its institutions.
The election is over . . . . Ours now is the sacred
duty of working for the common good."
HE REPUBLICAN SENATE has also started
off on the right foot by selecting as its floor
leader Sen. Earl W. Munshaw, who, according to
the Grand Rapids Press, "may be trusted to
work with the governor on all matters of im-
portance."
All of this seems to point toward a construc-
tive session of the legislature which will do
credit to both political parties and enhance
their value in the eyes of the electorate. And
so it will if the more farsighted members of the
legislature win out over those few Republicans
who allegedly intend to obstruct everything
Governor Van Wagoner proposes.
- Homer Swander
AURORA, N.Y.-(ACP)-The toughest part
listeners all over the country are asking today
about the alphabetical jumble involving ASCAP,
BMI, NBC, CBS, and MBS in a battle which has
eliminated a goodly amount of the jive and sweet
stuff from the air-lanes. Everybody, including
this writer, is getting sick and tired of the ru-
mors, charges, counter-charges and propaganda
which have been floating around regarding this
scrap. Therefore, after a thorough and impar-
tial investigation of both sides o the question'
I propose to clarify the issues for the campus-
once and for all.
1 O BEGIN at the very beginning, the alpha-
bet soup concocted above when unraveled
stands for The American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast
Music Incorporated (BMI), The National Broad-
casting Company (NBC), The Columbia Broad-
casting System (CBS), and The Mutual Broad-
casting System. When it was originally organ-
ized in 1914, ASCAP was a fine idea. Although
there were definite and explicit copyright laws
at the time, it was a virtual impossibility for
the individual songwriter to police every res-
taurant, tavern, grill, hotel and theatre in the
country to guard against violation of his copy-
right. To meet this need ASCAP was created.
Under this new arrangement a songwriter signed
over the rights to his songs to the organization
which collected the royalties and distributed
them among the members.
Most of ASCAP's early revenues came from
the above mentioned sources. At that time radio
was in its infancy and contributed only a few
thousand dollars. The sale of sheet music was
the largest source of income for the authors and
composers during this early period. Since that
time radio has grown to giant proportions and
among other things has caused the life of a pop-
ular song to drop from over a year to about three
months. This in turn has made a terrific dent
in the sale of sheet music. It is only fair then
that radio should pay the songwriters a fair
amount since it is the largest user of music.
BROADLY SPEAKING radio is divided into
three groups which are the major networks
(NBC, CBS, MBS), independent stations and
foreign language stations. These groups are
members of the National Association of Broad-
casters, and each.has a one-third vote in deter-
mining Association policies. It is this organiza-
tion which is sponsoring BMI. One further point
requires clarification before going into the whys
and wherefores of the present argument. The
networks do not themselves operate radio sta-
tions. They buy time from the individual sta-
tions that make up their chain. The individual
station then puts on a certain number of its
own programs and some network output.
During 1939 ASCAP charged the individual
radio stations 5% of their gross income for the
year-a sum of about $4,300,000. ASCAP earned
nearly $7,000,000. Radio men resented this.
They felt that they were paying for the use of
not only ASCAP music, but non-ASCAP music,
news broadcasts, sports broadcasts and other
programs which didn't even use music. How-
ever there was nothing that could be done.
ASCAP had them in a spot where failure to sign
a contract on ASCAP's terms meant being stuck
without any music. In the early days of 1940
the National Association of Broadcasters laid
plans not to be caught in the same spot when
their contract expired on Dec. 31, 1940. Their
plans involved setting up an organization of
their own to meet ASCAP. This was the be-
ginning of Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).
W HEN ASCAP's TERMS for a new contract
were made public in the fall of 1940, BMI
really got going in earnest. ASCAP stated their
intention to deal directly with the networks
instead of the networks' member stations. There
was nothing wrong in this, but ASCAP boosted
its price to a 7%z% cut of radio's gross revenue-
a sum which was expected to reach $9,000,000
with the advance in radio's income and the 2%/%
increase. Radio then invested 'a reported
$3,000,000 in BMI which proceeded to stock up
on the classics, other public domain songs, made
new arrangements and bought new songs from
new writers.
This then is the situation. In addition the
Department of Justice under the guidance of
Attorney General Jackson has instituted legal
proceedings against all parties involved charg-
ing them with being monopolies under the Sher-
man Anti-Trust Act. . However what will result
from this action remains to be seen.
ON JAN. 1 ASCAP music went off the air and
the BMI tunes took its place. BMI spngs
such as "There I Go", "I Hear a Rhapsody",
"Frenesi", and "Practice Makes Perfect" have
been played over and over. Admittedly the
public is tiring of some of these. But the facts
are that radio was willing to pay ASCAP a rea-
sonable rate on per-piece rendition of its music.
And since ASCAP refused to come to terms
radio has steered a new course. In the long
run the public will benefit by the injection of
new blood into the songwriting business. ASCAP
is admittedly a selective group and its members
have kept the field pretty much to themselves.
A newcomer must have five songs published be-
fore being considered for membership in ASCAP.
Many cases of persons who have had tremen-
dous hits for their first song and then did not
receive anything for the ASCAP rights are on
record. It is charged that men who haven't
written songs in 15 years, many who are now in
the movie industry which is supporting ASCAP,
receive large incomes while some of those who
are producing today's hits get little.
Although it is an annoyance not to hear your
old favorites, let's bear with radio in its attempt
to run its own business.
By GEORGE W. SALLADE
MUSIC under the control of the American So-
ciety of Composers, Authors and Publishers
is off the air waves. This is the unfortunate
result of one of the most unfair and useless dis-,
putes to come out of the entertainment world
in recent years. Because the broadcasting net-
works couldn't come to a contract agreement
with ASCAP more than 200,000 pieces of music,
the work of 1,200 composers, can no longer be
heard by the public. This includes most of the
best and most popular modern music. Jerome
Kern, Victor Herbert, Sigmund Romberg, and
George Gershwin are among the composers
whose music ASCAP controls. The public must
not be led by the late trend of decisions against
ASCAP to believe that its cause is not righteous.
The organization has long tried to establish the
principle that performance rights, whether over
the air or not, belong to the composer and should
-be paid for. It has 'befriended and aided many
a struggling composer.
THE PUBLIC likewise is in no position to judge
the fairness of ASCAP's contract terms. It
does not know that music is the most important
radio offering. American composers lost heavily
when radio cut short the life of published music.
They gained, however, when broadcasting in-
creased the public's demand for more music.
Protection of their rights from the greedy net-
works depends to a large extent on ASCAP.
It is discouraging, then, when the organiza-
tion is to all practical purposes banned from the
state of Washington and involved in a govern-
ment trust suit. In Washington it was held
that ASCAP was an illegal combination in re-
straint of trade while Attorney General Jack-
son has organized criminal proceedings against
it under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It is
accused of being a "music trust". Encouraging,
however, is the government's decision to also
prosecute the Columbia Broadcasting System,
the National Broadcasting Company, and Broad-
cast Music, Inc., a rival organization set up by
the broadcasters. In a statement Assistant At-
torney-General Arnold said that the justice de-
partment recognized the original legitimate
purpose of ASCAP, but that the society was now
trying to monopolize all copyright music.
ALTHOUGH the group may have made some
mistakes, its general benefit to American
composers cannot be overlooked. Good news,
then, is ASCAP's attempt to fight back at the
networks with a weelly program on its own net-
work of some 200 stations put on by Billy Rose,
Oscar Hammerstein, Deems Taylor, and Irving
Berlin, all ASCAP members. It is hoped that
for the sake of the music art the government
suit will force the broadcasters to come to terms
with ASCAP and prevent them from breaking
the organization without which American com-
posers would be left defenseless against vicious
copyright piracy.
.ART
N THE EXHIBITION CASES of the Architec-
ture Building there is beinghshown currently
a collection of the typographical designs of
Bruce Rogers, accompanied by a group of his
charming sketches in pen and ink, pencil, and
water color. If there are those among us who
have had the pleasure of designing a bit of print-
ing, and have tried however humbly to make a
work of art out of the combination of paper,
types, and ink, they should take this opportunity
of seeing what the greatest modern designer in
type has done and how he does it. Those who
have never designed a book but like beautiful
printing will naturally want to see it too; and
those who never think of a book as either good
or bad printing ought to go in the hope that
their eyes will be opened and a new source of
pleasure be granted them for the rest of their
lives.
THE CENTER OF INTEREST in the Rogers
Exhibit is naturally the biggest and most
expensive item, the great Oxford lectern Bible
of 1935. Even more significant to the writer,
however, is the fact that many of the examples
shown are ordinary trade books, mostly those
*from the period when Mr. Rogers was designer
for the Houghton Mifflin Company, and a large
number of items are not books at all, but no-
tices of club meetings, business announcements,
folders, and the like. There is even a placard
such as we post every Commencement time to
show visitors where to go to find such and such
a meeting or exhibition. We are, fortunately,
becoming much more sensitive to good printing
design these days, but until most books and
most posters, however cheap, are well designed
the popular taste is apt to remain on the philis-
tine side.
ANOTHER NOTEWORTHY THING about the
exhibit is the opportunity it affords to see
how a top-notch designer does his work, because
in several instances the initial lay-outs and
subsequent working proofs, with Bruce Rogers'
notes to the printer, are included together with
the finished work. You can see him directing
that a point more spacing be given between this,
and that letter, that the long "y" be used instead
of one with the short tail, and then becoming
dissatisfied with the whole arrangement and
trying something else, perhaps to return later
to the first lay-out. Another extremely interest-
ing feature is his experimentation with orna-
ments and "flowers". The secret of the whole
Ching seems to be the combination of original
-taste and the taking of infinite pains.
Mr. Rogers' sketches and drawings include
both those which, apparently, he likes to do for
his own pleasure, and which in a good many
instances seem to have something of the crisp
sparkle of type on paper, and the ones that have
evolved into something to do with printing, such
Self nDef ense
*'1 71'y
'I ALL AMt
To VZITA14
ISOLATIONITS
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Our Yesterdays
50 Years Ago
Jan. 8, 1891 - At Louisville, Ky.,
the Pan American delegates made a
statement, and their deliberate
opinion in regard to the University
sent a thrill of pleasure to many
loyal hearts. Being asked what in
this country had most impressed
them, they replied, decisively, "the
great boys' college at Ann Arbor."
They referred to the gathering in
University Hall and described the
enthusiasm. "But," said they, "when
their honored president raised his
hand, there was instant quiet."
25 Years Ago
Jan. 8, 1916 - Harry B. Hutchins
and the health service authorities
yesterday asserted that there is ab-
solutely no truth to the rumor cur-
rent about the campus the last few
days to the effect that classes are
to be suspended on account of influ-
enza, severe bronchitis and la grippe
epidemics which have seized the Un-
iversity.
DAILY OFFICIAL BULLETIN
(Continued from Page 2)
igan Birds and Their Calls" at 7:30
p.m. The lecture will be open to
the public.
Members of the Program Commit-
tee of Theatre Arts are requested to
work on programs in the League any
time today and tomorrow between
2:00 and 5:30 p.m.
Seminar in Social Minorities meets
today at 4:15 p.m. in Lane Hall.
Seminar in Theology meets today
at 4:30 p.m. in Lane Hall.
The Student Refugee Campaign,
sponsored by the Ann Arbor Jewish
Committee, is beginning today. Soli-
citors will collect funds from Janu-
ary 8 to 21.
Hillel Institute of Jewish Studies:
The following classes will meet to-
day: The Beginning Hebrew class at
4:45 p.m. and the class in Yiddish
and Yiddish Literature at 8:00 p.m.
Coming Events
The Research Club will meet in the
Amphitheatre of the Rackham Build-
ing Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 8:00 p.m.
The following papers will be read:
"Some Analyses of Reasoning in
Rats," by Professor John F. Shep-
ard.
"Franklin's Political Journalism in
England," by Professor Verner W.
Crane.
Mathematics Club will meet on
Thursday, Jan. 9, at 8:00 p.m., in
the West Conference Room, Rackham
Building. Dr. Martin will speak on
"Two-to-One Transformations of
Two-Dimensional Manifolds and Lin-
ear Graphs."
The Observatory Journal Club will
meet at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, January
9, in the Observatory lecture room..
Dr. A. D. Maxwell will speak on "The
Perturbations of Adonis." Tea at
4:00 p.m.
Spanish Play Try-outs at 3:15 p.m.
on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 9 and
10, in 312 R.L. All students of Span-
ish are invited.
La Sociedad Hispanica will present
Mr. Robert Griffin, who will give an
illustrated lecture in English with
colored movies on "Mexico, Land Of
The Future And Romance" on
Thursday, January 9, at 8:15 p.m. in
the Natural Science Auditorium.
House Presidents' Meeting on
Thursday, January 9, at 4:30 p.m. in
the Michigan League. Attendance
compulsory. .
The Slavic Society will meet in
Room 315 of the Michigan Union on
Thursday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m.
All Slavic students invited.
The Winter Parley, announced by
a special committee of the Student
Senate with representatives from the
Union, League and other campus or-
ganizations, will convene Friday at
3:00 p.m. The general subject is
"Conscription, Campus Life, and So-
cial Controls."
Seminar in the Bible meets Thurs-
day at 4:30 p.m. in Lane Hall.
The Interior Decorating Group of
the Faculty Women's Club will meet
on Thursday, January 9, at the
League. Mrs. A. E. Greene will speak
on "Spring Cleaning of Rugs, Fur-
niture, and Draperies."
he
Pad
WILLIAM ROCKWELL'S hearse
returned to Ann Arbor under its
power . . . . but not without a strug-
gle. The ancient vehicle cost $50 in
a Detroit junk yard, you recall. The
radiator fell apart en route to New
York, however, and set pseudo-un-
dertaker Rockwell back another $25.
He made part of this up by allowing
a Philadelphia night club proprietor
to ride 12 grass-clad hula girls around
the city as a publicity stunt.
According to all available in-
formation Tom Harmon attended
classes yesterday.
The Michigan Union staff deserves
some real help in their winter carn-
ival which is coming henceforth.
Plans for the affair are elaborate,
and if they are likewise sucessful,
Michigan may have another useful
tradition.
Ken Morgan's defense of Thad-
deus Szymanski, Michigan's con-
scientious objector, was highly in
order. Mr. Morgan is a respected
University citizen, and when he
says Szymanski is no paranoaic it
can't be laughed off.-
There is no estimate of the amount
of money which the Ohio State bas-
ketball player picked off the floor
Monday when the audience begar
tossing pennies. One fan suggested
the money would be used to feed
,
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