Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994

Summary: Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 - Amends copyright law with respect to satellite carrier compulsory licenses to require the subscriber information list submitted by a satellite carrier that makes secondary transmissions of a primary transmission by a network station to include the names of the subscribers. 
Provides that in any action relating to the violation of territorial restrictions on statutory license for network stations the satellite carrier shall have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission is for private home viewing to an unserved household. 
Revises:  (1) the formula used by the satellite carrier to compute the royalty fee to be deposited semiannually with the Register of Copyrights to increase the fees for secondary transmissions subject to statutory licensing; and (2) dates and procedures regarding the adjustment of such royalty fee.  Requires a copyright royalty arbitration panel, in determining such fees, to establish fees for the retransmission of network stations and superstations that most clearly represent the fair market value of secondary transmissions. Directs the panel to base its decision upon economic, competitive, and programming information presented by the parties, including:  (1) the competitive environment in which such programming is distributed, the cost for similar signals in similar private and compulsory license marketplaces, and any special features and conditions of the retransmission marketplace; (2) the economic impact of such fees on copyright owners and satellite carriers; and (3) the impact on the continued availability of secondary transmissions to the public 
Provides that, upon a challenge by a network station regarding whether a subscriber is an unserved household, a satellite carrier shall terminate service to the household and notify the network station of such termination or conduct a measurement of the signal intensity of the subscribers's household, after notifying the network station, to determine whether the household is unserved and, if so, terminate service.  Requires the challenging station to reimburse a carrier for any signal intensity measurement that indicates the household is an unserved household. 
Revises the definition of a "network station" for purposes of cable and satellite carrier compulsory license provisions to be:  (1) a television broadcast station owned or operated by, or affiliated with, one or more of the U.S. television networks which offer an interconnected program service on a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 of its affiliated television licensees in ten or more States; or (2) any noncommercial educational station.  Revises the definition of:  (1) "satellite carrier" to specify that such a carrier operates in the Fixed Satellite Service or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service; (2) "cable system" to include a facility that makes secondary transmissions of broadcast signals by microwave cables; and (3) "local service area of a primary transmitter" (in the case of a television broadcast station) to comprise either the area of which such station is entitled to insist upon its signal being retransmitted by a cable system pursuant to the rules, regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on April 15, 1976, such station's television market (as in effect on September 18, 1993), or any subsequent modifications to such television market. 
(Sec.  4) Terminates the provisions of section 2 of this Act on December 31, 1999.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.

    Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is amended as follows:
        (1) Subsection (a)(2)(C) is amended--
            (A) by striking ``90 days after the effective date of the 
        Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988, or'';
            (B) by striking ``whichever is later,'';
            (C) by inserting ``name and'' after ``identifying (by'' 
        each place it appears; and
            (D) by striking ``, on or after the effective date of the 
        Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988,''.
        (2) Subsection (a)(5) is amended by adding at the end the 
    following:
            ``(D) Burden of proof.--In any action brought under this 
        paragraph, the satellite carrier shall have the burden of 
        proving that its secondary transmission of a primary 
        transmission by a network station is for private home viewing 
        to an unserved household.''.
        (3) Subsection (b)(1)(B) is amended--
            (A) in clause (i) by striking ``12 cents'' and inserting 
        ``17.5 cents per subscriber in the case of superstations not 
        subject to syndicated exclusivity under the regulations of the 
        Federal Communications Commission, and 14 cents per subscriber 
        in the case of superstations subject to such syndicated 
        exclusivity''; and
            (B) in clause (ii) by striking ``3'' and inserting ``6''.
        (4) Subsection (c) is amended--
            (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ``December 31, 1992,'';
            (B) in paragraph (2)--
                (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``July 1, 1991'' 
            and inserting ``July 1, 1996''; and
                (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking ``December 31, 
            1994'' and inserting ``December 31, 1999, or in accordance 
            with the terms of the agreement, whichever is later''; and
            (C) in paragraph (3)--
                (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``December 31, 
            1991'' and inserting ``January 1, 1997'';
                (ii) by amending subparagraph (D) to read as follows:
            ``(D) Establishment of royalty fees.--In determining 
        royalty fees under this paragraph, the Copyright Arbitration 
        Panel shall establish fees for the retransmission of network 
        stations and superstations that most clearly represent the fair 
        market value of secondary transmissions. In determining the 
        fair market value, the Panel shall base its decision on 
        economic, competitive, and programming information presented by 
        the parties, including--
                ``(i) the competitive environment in which such 
            programming is distributed, the cost for similar signals in 
            similar private and compulsory license marketplaces, and 
            any special features and conditions of the retransmission 
            marketplace;
                ``(ii) the economic impact of such fees on copyright 
            owners and satellite carriers; and
                ``(iii) the impact on the continued availability of 
            secondary transmissions to the public.'';
                (iii) in subparagraph (E) by striking ``60'' and 
            inserting ``180''; and
                (iv) in subparagraph (C)--

                    (I) by striking ``, or until December 31, 1994''; 
                and
                    (II) by inserting ``or July 1, 1997, whichever is 
                later'' after ``section 802(g)''.

        (5) Subsection (a) is amended--
            (A) in paragraph (5)(C) by striking ``the Satellite Home 
        Viewer Act of 1988'' and inserting ``this section''; and
            (B) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(8) Transitional signal intensity measurement procedures.--
            ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (C), upon a 
        challenge by a network station regarding whether a subscriber 
        is an unserved household within the predicted Grade B Contour 
        of the station, the satellite carrier shall, within 60 days 
        after the receipt of the challenge--
                ``(i) terminate service to that household of the signal 
            that is the subject of the challenge, and within 30 days 
            thereafter notify the network station that made the 
            challenge that service to that household has been 
            terminated; or
                ``(ii) conduct a measurement of the signal intensity of 
            the subscriber's household to determine whether the 
            household is an unserved household after giving reasonable 
            notice to the network station of the satellite carrier's 
            intent to conduct the measurement.
            ``(B) Effect of measurement.--If the satellite carrier 
        conducts a signal intensity measurement under subparagraph (A) 
        and the measurement indicates that--
                ``(i) the household is not an unserved household, the 
            satellite carrier shall, within 60 days after the 
            measurement is conducted, terminate the service to that 
            household of the signal that is the subject of the 
            challenge, and within 30 days thereafter notify the network 
            station that made the challenge that service to that 
            household has been terminated; or
                ``(ii) the household is an unserved household, the 
            station challenging the service shall reimburse the 
            satellite carrier for the costs of the signal measurement 
            within 60 days after receipt of the measurement results and 
            a statement of the costs of the measurement.
            ``(C) Limitation on measurements.--(i) Notwithstanding 
        subparagraph (A), a satellite carrier may not be required to 
        conduct signal intensity measurements during any calendar year 
        in excess of 5 percent of the number of subscribers within the 
        network station's local market that have subscribed to the 
        service as of the effective date of the Satellite Home Viewer 
        Act of 1994.
            ``(ii) If a network station challenges whether a subscriber 
        is an unserved household in excess of 5 percent of the 
        subscribers within the network's station local market within a 
        calendar year, subparagraph (A) shall not apply to challenges 
        in excess of such 5 percent, but the station may conduct its 
        own signal intensity measurement of the subscriber's household 
        after giving reasonable notice to the satellite carrier of the 
        network station's intent to conduct the measurement. If such 
        measurement indicates that the household is not an unserved 
        household, the carrier shall, within 60 days after receipt of 
        the measurement, terminate service to the household of the 
        signal that is the subject of the challenge and within 30 days 
        thereafter notify the network station that made the challenge 
        that service has been terminated. The carrier shall also, 
        within 60 days after receipt of the measurement and a statement 
        of the costs of the measurement, reimburse the network station 
        for the cost it incurred in conducting the measurement.
            ``(D) Outside the predicted grade b contour.--(i) If a 
        network station challenges whether a subscriber is an unserved 
        household outside the predicted Grade B Contour of the station, 
        the station may conduct a measurement of the signal intensity 
        of the subscriber's household to determine whether the 
        household is an unserved household after giving reasonable 
        notice to the satellite carrier of the network station's intent 
        to conduct the measurement.
            ``(ii) If the network station conducts a signal intensity 
        measurement under clause (i) and the measurement indicates 
        that--
                ``(I) the household is not an unserved household, the 
            station shall forward the results to the satellite carrier 
            who shall, within 60 days after receipt of the measurement, 
            terminate the service to the household of the signal that 
            is the subject of the challenge, and shall reimburse the 
            station for the costs of the measurement within 60 days 
            after receipt of the measurement results and a statement of 
            such costs; or
                ``(II) the household is an unserved household, the 
            station shall pay the costs of the measurement.
        ``(9) Loser pays for signal intensity measurement; recovery of 
    measurement costs in a civil action.--In any civil action filed 
    relating to the eligibility of subscribing households as unserved 
    households--
            ``(A) a network station challenging such eligibility shall, 
        within 60 days after receipt of the measurement results and a 
        statement of such costs, reimburse the satellite carrier for 
        any signal intensity measurement that is conducted by that 
        carrier in response to a challenge by the network station and 
        that establishes the household is an unserved household; and
            ``(B) a satellite carrier shall, within 60 days after 
        receipt of the measurement results and a statement of such 
        costs, reimburse the network station challenging such 
        eligibility for any signal intensity measurement that is 
        conducted by that station and that establishes the household is 
        not an unserved household.
        ``(10) Inability to conduct measurement.--If a network station 
    makes a reasonable attempt to conduct a site measurement of its 
    signal at a subscriber's household and is denied access for the 
    purpose of conducting the measurement, and is otherwise unable to 
    conduct a measurement, the satellite carrier shall within 60 days 
    notice thereof, terminate service of the station's network to that 
    household.''.
        (6) Subsection (d) is amended--
            (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
        ``(2) Network station.--The term `network station' means--
            ``(A) a television broadcast station, including any 
        translator station or terrestrial satellite station that 
        rebroadcasts all or substantially all of the programming 
        broadcast by a network station, that is owned or operated by, 
        or affiliated with, one or more of the television networks in 
        the United States which offer an interconnected program service 
        on a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 
        of its affiliated television licensees in 10 or more States; or
            ``(B) a noncommercial educational broadcast station (as 
        defined in section 397 of the Communications Act of 1934).'';
            (B) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``and operates in the 
        Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47 of the Code 
        of Federal Regulations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite 
        Service under part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal 
        Regulations'' after ``Commission''; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(11) Local market.--The term `local market' means the area 
    encompassed within a network station's predicted Grade B contour as 
    that contour is defined by the Federal Communications 
    Commission.''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    (a) Cable System.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code, 
is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``cable 
system'' by inserting ``microwave,'' after ``wires, cables,''.
    (b) Local Service Area.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States 
Code, is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``local 
service area of a primary transmitter'' by inserting after ``April 15, 
1976,'' the following: ``or such station's television market as defined 
in section 76.55(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in 
effect on September 18, 1993), or any modifications to such television 
market made, on or after September 18, 1993, pursuant to section 
76.55(e) or 76.59 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations,''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION.

    (a) Expiration of Amendments.--Section 119 of title 17, United 
States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act, ceases to be 
effective on December 31, 1999.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 207 of the Satellite Home Viewer 
Act of 1988 (17 U.S.C. 119 note) is repealed.

SEC. 5. LIMITATION.

    The amendments made by this section apply only to section 119 of 
title 17, United States Code.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (d), 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Burden of Proof Provisions.--The provisions of section 
119(a)(5)(D) of title 17, United States Code (as added by section 2(2) 
of this Act) relating to the burden of proof of satellite carriers, 
shall take effect on January 1, 1997, with respect to civil actions 
relating to the eligibility of subscribers who subscribed to service as 
an unserved household before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Transitional Signal Intensity Measurement Procedures.--The 
provisions of section 119(a)(8) of title 17, United States Code (as 
added by section 2(5) of this Act), relating to transitional signal 
intensity measurements, shall cease to be effective on December 31, 
1996.
    (d) Local Service Area of a Primary Transmitter.--The amendment 
made by section 3(b), relating to the definition of the local service 
area of a primary transmitter, shall take effect on July 1, 1994.







                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.







                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.