I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 89

To amend title 17, United States Code, to reform the copyright law with

respect to satellite retransmissions of broadcast signals, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. BURR of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. BISHOP, Mr.

SKEEN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. METCALF, Mr. MCINNIS, Ms.

RIVERS, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania,

and Mr. GOODE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To amend title 17, United States Code, to reform the copyright law with respect to satellite retransmissions of

broadcast signals, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Access to

5 Local Stations Act’’.
2

•HR 89 IH

1 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SECONDARY

2 TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS

3 WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 17, United

5 States Code, is amended by adding after section 121 the

6 following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 122. Limitations on exclusive rights; secondary

8 transmissions by satellite carriers within

9 local markets

10 ‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION

11 BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec12 ondary transmission of a primary transmission of a tele13 vision broadcast station into the station’s local market

14 shall be subject to statutory licensing under this section

15 if—

16 ‘‘(1) the secondary transmission is made by a

17 satellite carrier to the public;

18 ‘‘(2) the secondary transmission is permissible

19 under the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the

20 Federal Communications Commission; and

21 ‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi22 rect charge for the secondary transmission to—

23 ‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the second24 ary transmission; or
3

•HR 89 IH

1 ‘‘(B) a distributor that has contracted with

2 the satellite carrier for direct or indirect deliv3 ery of the secondary transmission to the public.

4 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—A satellite car5 rier whose secondary transmissions are subject to statu6 tory licensing under subsection (a) shall, on a semiannual

7 basis, submit to the Register of Copyrights, in accordance

8 with requirements that the Register shall prescribe by reg9 ulation, a statement of account, covering the preceding

10 6-month period, specifying—

11 ‘‘(1) the names and locations of all television

12 broadcast stations whose signals were secondarily

13 transmitted within the local markets of those sta14 tions at any time during that period; and

15 ‘‘(2) the total number of, and addresses pro16 vided by, all subscribers receiving those secondary

17 transmissions.

18 ‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite car19 rier whose secondary transmissions are subject to statu20 tory licensing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty

21 obligation for such secondary transmissions.

22 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING REQUIRE23 MENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the willful or

24 repeated secondary transmission to the public by a sat25 ellite carrier of a television broadcast station and embody-
4

•HR 89 IH

1 ing a performance or display of a work is actionable as

2 an act of infringement under section 501, and is fully sub3 ject to the remedies provided under sections 502 through

4 506 and 509, if the satellite carrier has not submitted the

5 statement of account required under subsection (b).

6 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

7 ‘‘(1) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’

8 means an entity that contracts to distribute second9 ary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, either

10 as a single channel or in a package with other pro11 gramming, provides the secondary transmission ei12 ther directly to subscribers or indirectly through

13 other program distribution entities.

14 ‘‘(2) LOCAL MARKET.—The ‘local market’ of a

15 television broadcast station has the meaning given

16 that term in section 337(g) of the Communications

17 Act of 1934.

18 ‘‘(3) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

19 term ‘television broadcast station’ means an over20 the-air, commercial, or noncommercial television

21 broadcast station licensed by the Federal Commu22 nications Commission under subpart E of part 73 of

23 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.

24 ‘‘(4) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’

25 means a person or entity that receives a secondary
5

•HR 89 IH

1 transmission service by means of a secondary trans2 mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv3 ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or

4 to a distributor.

5 ‘‘(5) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘satellite car6 rier’ and ‘secondary transmission’ have the meanings

7 given such terms under section 119(d).’’.

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

9 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United

10 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating

11 to section 121 the following:

‘‘122. Limitations on exclusive rights; secondary transmissions by satellite carriers within local markets.’’.

12 SEC. 3. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

13 Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934

14 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—

15 (1) by striking ‘‘(b)(1)’’ and all that follows

16 through the end of paragraph (1) and inserting the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video

19 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

20 broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except—

21 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the station;

22 ‘‘(B) pursuant to section 614, in the case of a

23 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

24 to assert the right to carriage under such section; or
6

•HR 89 IH

1 ‘‘(C) pursuant to section 337, in the case of a

2 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

3 to assert the right to carriage under such section.’’;

4 and

5 (3) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of the

8 Satellite Access to Local Stations Act, the Commission

9 shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to revise the reg10 ulations governing the exercise by television broadcast sta11 tions of the right to grant retransmission consent under

12 this subsection. Such regulations shall establish election

13 time periods that correspond with those regulations adopt14 ed under subparagraph (B). The rulemaking shall be com15 pleted within 180 days after the effective date of the Sat16 ellite Access to Local Stations Act.’’.

17 SEC. 4. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE18 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG19 NALS.

20 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is

21 amended by inserting after section 336 the following new

22 section:
7

•HR 89 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 337. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY

2 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

3 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—Each satellite carrier

4 providing secondary transmissions of a television broad5 cast station to subscribers located within the local market

6 of such station shall offer to carry all television broadcast

7 stations located within that local market, subject to sec8 tion 325(b), except that the carriage obligations of this

9 section shall not apply to satellite carriers that do not re10 transmit the signals of broadcast television stations pursu11 ant to the statutory license under section 122 of title 17,

12 United States Code. Carriage of additional television

13 broadcast stations within the local market shall be at the

14 discretion of the satellite carrier, subject to section 325(b).

15 ‘‘(b) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—Notwithstand16 ing subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be required

17 to offer to carry the signal of any local television broadcast

18 station that substantially duplicates the signal of another

19 local television broadcast station which is secondarily

20 transmitted by the satellite carrier, or to offer to carry

21 the signals of more that one local television broadcast sta22 tion affiliated with a particular broadcast network (as the

23 term is defined by regulation).

24 ‘‘(c) CARRIAGE OF ALL LOCAL TELEVISION STA25 TIONS ON CONTIGUOUS CHANNELS.—All local television

26 broadcast stations retransmitted by a satellite carrier to
8

•HR 89 IH

1 subscribers in the stations’ local markets shall be made

2 available to subscribers in their local markets on contig3 uous channels and in a nondiscriminatory manner on any

4 navigational device, on-screen program guide, or menu.

5 ‘‘(d) COMPENSATION FOR CARRIAGE.—A satellite

6 carrier shall not accept or request monetary payment or

7 other valuable consideration in exchange either for car8 riage of local television broadcast stations in accordance

9 with the requirements of this section or for channel posi10 tioning rights provided to such stations under this section,

11 except that any such station may be required to bear the

12 costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to

13 the principal headend of the satellite carrier. No station

14 carried in accordance with the requirements of this section

15 shall be required to bear the costs of delivering a good

16 quality signal to a location other than the principal

17 headend of the satellite carrier.

18 ‘‘(e) REMEDIES.—

19 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS BY BROADCAST STATIONS.—

20 Whenever a local television broadcast station believes

21 that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga22 tions under this section, such station shall notify the

23 carrier, in writing, of the alleged failure and identify

24 its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier is

25 obligated to offer to carry the signal of such station
9

•HR 89 IH

1 or has otherwise failed to comply with other require2 ments of this section. The satellite carrier shall,

3 within 30 days after such written notification, re4 spond in writing to such notification and either

5 begin carrying the signal of such station in accord6 ance with the terms requested or state its reasons

7 for believing that it is not obligated to carry such

8 signal or is in compliance with other requirements

9 of this section. A local television broadcast station

10 that is denied carriage in accordance with this sec11 tion by a satellite carrier may obtain review of such

12 denial by filing a complaint with the Commission.

13 Such complaint shall allege the manner in which

14 such satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga15 tions and the basis for such allegations. A failure

16 by a satellite carrier to carry a local television broad17 cast station within its local market if there has been

18 a change in that station’s local market, or to carry

19 a local broadcast television station that is signifi20 cantly viewed outside its local market due to tech21 nical limitations of that satellite carrier’s existing fa22 cilities, shall not constitute a failure by the satellite

23 carrier to comply with its obligations under this sec24 tion.
10

•HR 89 IH

1 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Com2 mission shall afford such satellite carrier an oppor3 tunity to present data and arguments to establish

4 that there has been no failure to meet its obligations

5 under this section.

6 ‘‘(3) REMEDIAL ACTIONS; DISMISSAL.—Within

7 120 days after the date a complaint is filed, the

8 Commission shall determine whether the satellite

9 carrier has met its obligations under this section. If

10 the Commission determines that the satellite carrier

11 has failed to meet such obligations, the Commission

12 shall order the satellite carrier, in the case of an ob13 ligation to carry a station, to begin carriage of the

14 station and to continue such carriage for at least 12

15 months. If the Commission determines that the sat16 ellite carrier has fully met the requirements of this

17 section, it shall dismiss the complaint.

18 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS BY COMMISSION.—Within 180

19 days after the effective date of this section, the Commis20 sion shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue regula21 tions implementing the requirements imposed by this sec22 tion.

23 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

24 ‘‘(1) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

25 term ‘television broadcast station’ means a full-
11

•HR 89 IH

1 power television broadcast station, and does not in2 clude a low-power or translator television broadcast

3 station.

4 ‘‘(2) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’

5 means the designated market area in which a station

6 is located and—

7 ‘‘(A) for a commercial television broadcast

8 station located in any of the 150 largest des9 ignated market areas, all commercial television

10 broadcast stations licensed to a community

11 within the same designated market area are

12 within the same local market;

13 ‘‘(B) for a commercial television broadcast

14 station that is located in a designated market

15 area that is not one of the 150 largest, the local

16 market includes all commercial television broad17 cast stations licensed to a community within the

18 same designated market area, and may also in19 clude any station that is significantly viewed, as

20 such term is defined in section 76.54 of the title

21 47, Code of Federal Regulations; and

22 ‘‘(C) for a noncommercial educational tele23 vision broadcast station, the local market in24 cludes any station that is licensed to a commu25 nity within the same designated market area as
12

•HR 89 IH

1 the noncommercial educational television broad2 cast station.

3 ‘‘(3) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—The term

4 ‘designated market area’ means a designated market

5 area, as determined by the Nielsen Media Research

6 and published in the DMA Market and Demographic

7 Report.

8 ‘‘(4) PRINCIPAL HEADEND OF THE SATELLITE

9 CARRIER.—The term ‘principal headend of the sat10 ellite carrier’ means the reception point in the local

11 market of a broadcast television station or in a mar12 ket contiguous to the local market of a broadcast

13 television station at which the satellite carrier ini14 tially receives the signal of the station for purposes

15 of transmission of such signals to the facility which

16 uplinks the signals to the carrier’s satellites for sec17 ondary transmission to the satellite carrier’s sub18 scribers.

19 ‘‘(5) SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The term

20 ‘secondary transmission’ has the meaning given that

21 term in section 119(d) of title 17, United States

22 Code.’’.
13

•HR 89 IH

1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

3 take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ