AN ACT RELATIVE TO CERTAIN LICENSES TO EXHIBIT BY MOVIE THEATERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 4 of chapter 136 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1996 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out paragraph (8) and inserting in place thereof the following two paragraphs:-
(8) Sections 2 and 3 and this section shall not apply to an athletic game or contest for which a charge in the form of the payment of money or other valuable consideration is made for the privilege of being present thereat, conducted, presented or exhibited on Sunday prior to 1 o'clock antemeridian; provided, however, the said athletic game or contest was commenced before the hour of 9 o'clock postmeridian on Saturday and it was necessary to continue said game after midnight on Saturday in order to complete the game.
(8A) Sections 2 and 3 and this section shall not apply to the exhibition of motion pictures by a movie theater, including any drive-in theater, licensed under the provisions of section 181 of chapter 140.
SECTION 2. The first paragraph of section 181 of chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following two sentences:- Notwithstanding the limitations of this paragraph, a license granted to a movie theater, including any drive-in theater, for the exhibition of motion pictures shall permit such exhibition seven days per week. The fee for such license shall not exceed the total amounts paid by a licensee for licenses issued in 1997 under this section and section 4 of chapter 136 then in effect; provided, however, that the fee for such license shall not be greater than $500.
SECTION 3. Section 183A of said chapter 140, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
The provisions of this section shall be applicable seven days per week; provided, however, that no license under this section shall be granted to permit such activities, except an athletic game or sport, on Sundays or before 1 o'clock in the afternoon, without the written approval of the commissioner of public safety, made in accordance with the provisions of this section, upon written application to said commissioner accompanied by a fee of not more than $5, or in the case of an annual license by a fee of not more than $100.