ROYALTIES TO CEASE

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21085, 9 February 1934, Page 8

ROYALTIES TO CEASE

« —— BROADCASTING AND PATENT RIGHTS GOVERNMENT AND AMALGA. MATED WIRELESS (PIIESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, February 8. After attending the postal congress now being held in Cairo the Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Department (Mr G. McNamara) will proceed to England, where he will investigate a number of matters affecting the department and its welfare. These will include the question of broadcasting in relation to the payment of royalties for the use of certain patent rights. New Zealand radio listeners will be particularly interested in this phase of Mr McNamara's mission. Notice of its intention to terminate the present agreement under which Amalgamated Wireless of Australasia, Ltd., receives a royalty on the fees paid by radio listeners was served on the company last year by the New Zealand Government. This notice terminates on May 1 next. Listeners in' this country pay an annual license fee of 30s, and of this sum 3s is paid over to Amalgamated Wireless as a royalty for the use of certain patents held by the company. Some months before the New Zealand Government notified the company that it intended to terminate the agreement, a similar course was taken by the Federal Government of Australia. In the Commonwealth the license fee rs 24s a year and the Australian Government also had an agreement with the company whereby it received 3s out of every license fee.

The license fees are collected in New Zealand by the Post and Telegraph Department, which retains 2s out of every 30s fee paid by the listeners as a commission to cover the cost of collection. This leaves the broadcasting Board with 2Bs out of every 30s with which to provide the broadcasting service.