Despite Lawsuit, Sony DAT Decks Sell Briskly : Digital Audio Tape: Three other companies say their decks will be out next month, but may wait until settlement of copyright question.

Despite a lawsuit against Sony, which in late June became the first company to market digital audio tape decks geared to consumers, the decks are selling briskly and three other companies say they are proceeding with plans to market similar machines that make flawless copies of compact discs.

A group of songwriters and music publishers filed a class-action suit against Sony on July 9, asking a New York federal court to declare the unauthorized taping on DAT equipment a violation of copyright law and to ban Sony from importing and selling decks and blank cassettes in the United States. The music industry wants a surcharge--on blank DAT tapes, for instance--to make up for lost income.

But the pending court proceedings don’t seem to be inhibiting sales of the Sony decks--the DTC-700 ($900) and the DTC-75 ES ($950).

“I don’t even think consumers are aware of it,” said Howard Rodgers, chairman of the Rogersound Labs retail chain. In his stores, he said, there is a big demand--sometimes a waiting list--for the 75ES, the only model they stock.

Mike Smith, manager of Paris Audio’s West L.A. branch, said that his store has been quickly selling its limited supply of DAT decks. Jesse Jacobson, vice president of the DAT Store in Santa Monica, which deals mostly with the music industry, reported that sales are up 10% and consumer calls about DAT decks are up about 400% since June. Other decks--basically more expensive ($1,500 and up) imports from Japan, geared to music professionals--have been available in this country for nearly three years, almost exclusively at music-equipment stores.

So far, Sony is the only company to market DAT decks targeted to the mass market. But representatives of Denon, JVC and Technics said their companies will introduce DAT decks next month--all in the $900-$1,000 range. None of the spokesmen, however, would reveal a debut date.

Jacobson isn’t so sure these companies will market their decks on schedule.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep delaying putting them out until the suit is settled,” he said. “They’ll probably be hit with the same kind of suit Sony is dealing with. Denon is a smaller company that may not want to spend all that money on legal fees. I can see Denon waiting much longer to put out a deck. JVC and Technics are big companies that won’t care that much about legal fees, but they may fear import restrictions on other products.”

For the average consumer, the primary drawbacks to DAT are the price of the decks, the cost of blank tapes ($12-$17) and the shortage of prerecorded software--there are only a handful of classical and jazz tapes available.

Thus, consumers who buy the decks now are primarily interested in copying CDs--much to the consternation of songwriters and publishers.

DAT decks, which use a minicassette and are capable of copying and playback in the digital format, do come equipped with some copy protection--the SCMS (serial copy management system) circuitry that prevents a tape copied from a CD from being used to make additional copies. But this feature was added without approval of the songwriters and publishers and isn’t satisfactory to them.