digitalcommons.nyls.edu NYLS Publications Student Newspapers 4-1986 The ewN York Law School Reporter's Arts and Entertainment Journal, vol IV, no. 4, April 1986 New York Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/newspapers Recommended Citation New York Law School, "The eN w York Law School Reporter's Arts and Entertainment Journal, vol IV, no. 4, April 1986" (1986). Student Newspapers. 117. https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/newspapers/117 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the NYLS Publications at DigitalCommons@NYLS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Newspapers by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@NYLS. The New·York Law School Reporter's 1lll'l,S 1INI) l~N'l,l~ll'l'1IIN)ll~N'I' ,IC) IJllN 11I~ VolIVNo4 • ALL THE NEWS WE CAN FIND • Apr1l1986 llf.)f;I{ 1INI) llf)I~I~: by Dbmne Pine DE1'EN'l'E OF THE EIGH'flES When the arts & entertainment section Sirnplifed - the Home Audio Recording by llya Frenkel first pondered the merits of an article on Act calls for 1) a 1• per minute tax on high With all the talk of possibility of But the real reason behind this the proposed Home Audio Recording Act, quality audio tape; 2) a 5% tax on tape detente in the U.S. - Soviet relations, phenomenon may very well be that with the flood of information which reached recorders and 3) a 25% tax on dual tape cultural exchanges and trade take a the advent of easily-accessible audio, this office looked like so many piles of decks. These prices would be built into the decidedly backward position of video and computer technology, the damaged tape - after your tape deck has wholesale price and God knows what the significance behind the critical issues of Kremlin fears losing control of its closed eaten the taped version of your favorite increase to consumers will be. The taxes nuclear and conventional disarmament. and isolated society and is in a hurry to album. Pro & Con forces sent so many collected would be submitted to the Yet ironically it is music and perform­ satisfy the cultural hunger of its charts, diagrams and editorials you need­ Copyright Royality Tribunal (CRT). ing arts that have so far played a major citizenry, preferable with tested and ed a statisics degree to make sense ofit all. That, however is where the bill leaves role in the dialogue between the two censored domestic production whenever As a former DJ, I was very interested in us. No provision have been made for deter­ superpowers. Especially comforting is possible. this proposed bill. In my time I had taped mining who gets the money - the record the fact that this time the commodity Soviet communist neighbors, espec­ a few albums, out ofnecessity, because the companies or the artist. No provisions officially imported for the Soviet ially Poland, Hungary and DOR, have bands wl_lich interested me usually releas­ have been made for determining who gets domestic consumption is perhaps the been much more openminded in both ed albums on smaJJ independent labels how much money either. The bill drafters most sucessful and enduring American cultivating the domestic rock scene's with a small distribution area. Many of call for the CRT to come up with a product of the last 30 years considerable creativity and in inviting these albums existed only as single copies cohesive plan and regulations for distribu­ -rock'n'roll. After the long and intense foreign acts to tour and play local in college radio stations libraries. Taping tion. The bill also calls for the CRT to campaign against rock music, the venues. In comparison, Russia has a albums also crept into my job during all come up with a list ofexemption (although Soviets seem to have changed their at­ long way to go before it will be able to those midnight album-sides when you how you get the money back is also a titude toward it for a number of challenge Americ.ans at their own game. could almost hear the tape decks clicking mystery - could you imagine getting pragmatic reasons and reportedly gave Yet the trends we are witnessing today on all ove• town. rebates from the CRT, or how long that their blessing to native enthusiasts of are quite encouraging for the static More than radio stations and rare­ might take?). this contemporary genre. To be sure, totalitarian regime in Russia inherited album collectors are affected by the Audio There are several more unanswered Russian rock music has that un­ from the times of Peter the Great. Fear Recording Act. There are stores which problems - what about people who really mistakabll" flavor of Soviet rhetoric and of !he foreign influence and contempt rent albums for ahh (well ya know). There don't use the tapes for illegal purposes propaganda, and the Soviet authorities for the Western cultural tradition do is also the avid record buyer who preserves -e.g. a small band which records on and are far behind the Chinese in welcoming persist, however another typically his albums by taping immediately upon distributes copus of cassette only LP's. Western influences. But after the American musical genre - jazz - has first listening (this has been found to be The tax stands on questionable legal Geneva conference it is mass com­ established itself rather well on the the most common type of taper). There is grounds in the first place-namelythatthe munications and entertainment that Soviet stage a Jong with musical comedy. also, of course, all those bootleg opera­ law is based on a presumption that the hold the most promise in achieving cer­ True, the official adoption of things tions which flood the market with "Live" tapes are used for illegal taping purposes. tain understanding between the two American takes a remarkably long time, performances available on cassette only It is also interesting to note the bill's adversary systems, and some progress unlike the unofficial of the Soviet youth, format. Continued on page 2 there can already be noted. but considering such recent innovations The first sign of Moscow's eagerness in Soviet life such as discothecs, rock to compete in modern music as well as operas and pizzerias, the tide has turn­ technology and science was to introduce ed. The change, of course, is not coming its own rock musicians to the West by so much from the new leadership in participation in the Live-Aid concert by Moscow, as from the new generation of NYLS Calender satellite from Moscow alongside the the Soviets -less interested in the Rock establishment from the U.S., Leninist/ Marxist ideology and more en­ Great Britain and Australia. The broad­ ch anted by the latest creations of cast was show to the worldwide au­ Hollywood. The cultural deprivation ef­ Thurs. March20 Reporter at Katie dience with the exception of the fected by the government has thus 4:30pm O'Toole's-Prize-Low cost U.S.S.R. where only a handful of Rus­ created an incredjble need for the same sians were able to see it, but he fact that products the American dream factories Drinks the Kremlin cooperated with the Live­ were exporting to dozens of other coun­ Wed. EveryWed. Media Law Project Aid organizer, Bob Geldoff, goes to tries around the globe. show that rock music received at least The American media has reacted with 12:20pm Executive & General Meeting implied recognition behind the im­ interest to the latest victories of Everyday Pick up your mail in the stu­ penetrable Iron Curtain. rock 'n 'roll on the Eastern front by fill­ On the homefront, there has always ing its prime-time evening news with a dent lounge-or elsethe been an underground rock industry in barrage of reports on Soviet life, par- mailboxes for students will Russia, complete with artists, pro­ Continued on page 2 disappear. ducers, D.J .s and millions of fans, but now the move by the administration Wed. EveryWed. Media Law Project partially legalizing rock has brought 12:30pm C-106 Executive and General this formerly outlawed music from the fringes of the Soviet society into the INSIDE meeting concert halls and even radio and televi­ Thurs. March20 Black and Latin Student sion. By inviting the idols and their followers into the mainstream of enter­ The Bangles Association's meeting on tainment, Soviet style, the strategists their new Constitution atop the Soviet political hierarchy have Page4 surely banked on distracting its citizens Fri. March28 The Bangles will appear at from the Voice of America broadcasts, Music Chase the Beacon Theatre invariably supplying them with a good Page 6 dose of rock'n'roll daily, along with western rhetoric. • April1986 Page2 • - NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL REPORTER llf)f~I{ 1\NI) llf)I.. I.. : l)E'l'EN'l'E OF 'l'HE EIGH'flES Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 the latest synth pop and dance music. bination: the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, ticularly on the quality of entertainment Soul, rhythm and blues and jazz rock Elton John and B.B. King. supporters in congress • Senators Mathias, consumed by the average Soviet are very dear to the more sophisticated In the end, it seems that both sides Hatch, D'Amato, Wilson, Cochran, Ken­ household. Most notably, ABC's 20/20 connoiseurs of American music. Of can benefit from the transaction should nedy, Cranston Sasser, Simon Leahy and has devoted an entire program to cover course, the influence of Presley, the be it realized on a large scale: the U.S.