Coin-Op Legend Harold Kaufman Is Dead At 93

NEW YORK CITY -- Harold Kaufman, a coin machine pioneer from New York, died on June 20. He was 93.

Kaufman, who began as an equipment operator, became a Wurlitzer jukebox distributor in 1962. Located at 841 10th Ave., his company, Musical Distributors Corp., was part of Manhattan's fabled Jukebox Row. The rough and tumble West Side neighborhood featured countless distributors of jukeboxes and coin-op amusement devices, as well as one-stops supplying 45rpm records to operators.

A prominent entity in the neighborhood, Musical Distributors served the metropolitan New York region, all of New Jersey and Fairfield County, CT. A satellite office was located at 1640 Bedford Ave. in Brooklyn.

Kaufman's original music and games route, founded in 1946, is now known as Richmond Hill Music & Amusements. The Queens-based operation is managed by Kaufman's son, Mitchell.

In addition to contributing to New York City's storied coin machine history, Kaufman entered the law books in a landmark case. Stern Electronics Inc. v. Kaufman involved a game called Scramble, which was made by Japan's Konami and licensed to Chicago's Stern for exclusive distribution in North and South America. Stern contested that Kaufman's Omni Video Games Inc., d/b/a Bay Coin, violated copyright restrictions with its game called Scramble 2. While both aviation-themed games differed in their programming, they also had substantial similarities. So the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that images and sound in a videogame, as well as its source code, were protected by copyright. The 1982 case, which Kaufman lost, set a legal precedent that remains in effect.

Kaufman is survived by his wife Edith; sons Mitchell and Robert; daughter Linda; and five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.