If Recording Bill Passes, Get Ready for the Digital Wars

The digital format wars--in which the digital compact cassette squares off with the MiniDisc--is scheduled to get under way in earnest just in time for the holiday shopping season. The digital compact cassette is to be launched in late October, and the MiniDisc’s debut is set for December.

But something could happen that would wreck the whole scenario.

These digital machines, which play and record music at compact disc-quality level, may not come out on schedule if Congress doesn’t pass the Digital Audio Home Recording Act--which would largely legalize home taping and generate royalties to record companies to compensate for revenues lost through consumer copying.

Both camps are certain that the lesiglation will be passed before Congress adjourns Oct. 3.

“The margin for failure is so slight that no one is spending much time on worrying about what would happen if the Congress doesn’t pass anything,” said Bob Sherwood, vice president of sound-technology marketing at Sony, which developed the MiniDisc.

But what if, for some reason, Congress doesn’t approve the measure?

“The major record companies said their support is contingent upon the passage of that bill,” Sherwood said. “If nothing passed, there wouldn’t be any software.”

And availability of software is crucial to the hardware, noted Emil Petrone, chairman of the DCC Group of America: “If people can’t play music they like on a new format, they are less likely to invest in it--no matter how good it sounds.”

“Look what happened to the DAT (digital audio tape), which came out a few years ago without prerecorded DAT tapes,” Petrone said. “It has never caught on with the average consumer.”

A digital compact cassette unit not only records and plays back on a special digital tape, but also has the added feature--and strong selling point--of playing standard cassettes too. The DCC is being billed as the successor to the standard cassette.

The MiniDisc is a 2.5-inch recordable disc played in shock-proof portable machines. Sony is carefully avoiding infringing upon the flourishing home-CD deck market.

The DCC launch next month includes units by Philips, which invented the format, Tandy and Technics. The Philips model will sell for $800; the other companies have not announced prices yet. A 90-minute blank cassette will be priced at $10.

In December, Sony will introduce two portable MiniDisc units, a playback only ($55O) and a record/playback ($750). A 60-minute blank is $14.

Prerecorded material in both formats will be priced roughly like expensive CDs--$14 to $17.

New on Video: Here are some new releases:

“Mississippi Masala” (Columbia TriStar, no set price). In Indian director Mira Noir’s first-rate film, a black Southerner (Denzel Washington) falls for an East Indian refugee from Uganda (Sarita Choudbury) in a small Mississippi town, stirring up a fierce culture clash and raising cogent questions about immigrants adjusting to a new country.

“Ernest Scared Stupid” (Touchstone, $95). Jim Varney is back as that lovable, dimwitted nerd Ernest P. Worrell, a character that kids find endearing but that adults regard as simply imbecilic. If you put yourself in a dopey mind-set, Ernest’s bout with a villainous troll is lowbrow fun.

“White Sands” (Warner, $95). An underrated enigmatic thriller boasting of some marvelously mysterious characters. Willem Dafoe plays a New Mexico cop who stumbles into a network of intrigue as he tracks down the source of a money-laden briefcase owned by a dead man.

“Leaving Normal” (MCA/Universal, no set price). Berated by many critics as a low-grade “Thelma & Louise,” this is the sentimental tale of a pair of downtrodden women--a tough waitress (Christine Lahti) and a meek drifter (Meg Tilly)--who team up and seek happiness in Alaska.

“The Power of One” (Warner, $95). A well-meaning but hokey and misguided drama that, like “Cry Freedom,” condemns prejudice in South Africa by focusing on a white character. Stephen Dorff plays an English orphan who becomes a boxer and learns to battle prejudice, guided partly by wise old men portrayed by John Gielgud and Morgan Freeman.

Coming on Video: “Sister Act,” the Whoopi Goldberg comedy that grossed more than $126 million, will be out on Nov. 13 at $20, a price geared to the sales market. Other releases: “Criss Cross” (Sept. 30), “My Cousin Vinny” (Oct. 1), “Straight Talk” (Oct. 7), “Gladiator” (Oct. 7), “Newsies” (Oct. 14), “Basic Instinct” (Oct. 14), “Batman Returns” (Oct. 21), “The Babe” (Oct. 21), “Shadows and Fog” (Oct. 21) and “Beauty and the Beast” (Oct. 30).

New on Laser Disc: “Mississippi Masala,” “Father of the Bride” (letterbox), “Final Analyis,” “Gate II,” “Rock-a-Doodle,” “Once Upon a Crime” and “Hear My Song” are just out.

Also:

“Spartacus” (Criterion, 1960, $125). Kirk Douglas and Peter Ustinov star in director Stanley Kubrick’s dramatization of Howard Fast’s novel about a slave revolt in the Roman Empire era. It’s one of the few intelligent costume epics ever made. Among the bonuses are interviews with the stars and a detailed analysis by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo.

“I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang” (MGM/UA, 1932, $35). Good print of one of the great movies of the early talkies era, a stinging social drama showing how an unjustly convicted man (Paul Muni) is continually battered by an unfair criminal justice system.

“The Evil of Frankenstein” (MCA/Universal, 1964, $35). One of the scarier films from the Hammer horror stable, with the monster, preserved in ice, being thawed out by Dr. Frankenstein (Peter Cushing).