I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 768

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

FEBRUARY 23, 1999

Mr. COBLE (for himself and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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 ‘‘Copyright Compulsory

5 License Improvement Act’’.
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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 satellite carrier is in compliance with

19 the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the Fed20 eral Communications Commission governing the car21 riage of television broadcast station signals; and

22 ‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi23 rect charge for the secondary transmission to—

24 ‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the second25 ary transmission; or
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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.—

5 ‘‘(1) INITIAL LISTS.—A satellite carrier that

6 makes secondary transmissions of a primary trans7 mission made by a network station under subsection

8 (a) shall, within 90 days after commencing such sec9 ondary transmissions, submit to that station a list

10 identifying (by name and street address, including

11 county and zip code) all subscribers to which the

12 satellite carrier currently makes secondary trans13 missions of that primary transmission.

14 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub15 mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier

16 shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the sta17 tion a list identifying (by name and street address,

18 including county and zip code) any subscribers who

19 have been added or dropped as subscribers since the

20 last submission under this subsection.

21 ‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub22 scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier

23 under this subsection may be used only for the pur24 poses of monitoring compliance by the satellite car25 rier with this section.
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1 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS OF STATIONS.—The sub2 mission requirements of this subsection shall apply

3 to a satellite carrier only if the station to whom the

4 submissions are to be made places on file with the

5 Register of Copyrights a document identifying the

6 name and address of the person to whom such sub7 missions are to be made. The Register shall main8 tain for public inspection a file of all such docu9 ments.

10 ‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite car11 rier whose secondary transmissions are subject to statu12 tory licensing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty

13 obligation for such secondary transmissions.

14 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING REQUIRE15 MENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the willful or

16 repeated secondary transmission to the public by a sat17 ellite carrier into the local market of a television broadcast

18 station of a primary transmission made by that television

19 broadcast station and embodying a performance or display

20 of a work is actionable as an act of infringement under

21 section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided

22 under sections 502 through 506 and 509, if the satellite

23 carrier has not complied with the reporting requirements

24 of subsection (b).
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1 ‘‘(e) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding

2 subsection (a), the secondary transmission to the public

3 by a satellite carrier into the local market of a television

4 broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that

5 television broadcast station and embodying a performance

6 or display of a work is actionable as an act of infringement

7 under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies pro8 vided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and

9 510, if the content of the particular program in which the

10 performance or display is embodied, or any commercial ad11 vertising or station announcement transmitted by the pri12 mary transmitter during, or immediately before or after,

13 the transmission of such program, is in any way willfully

14 altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions,

15 or additions, or is combined with programming from any

16 other broadcast signal.

17 ‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS ON

18 STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION BROADCAST STA19 TIONS.—

20 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—The willful or

21 repeated secondary transmission to the public by a

22 satellite carrier of a primary transmission made by

23 a television broadcast station and embodying a per24 formance or display of a work to a subscriber who

25 does not reside in that station’s local market, and is
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1 not subject to statutory licensing under section 119,

2 is actionable as an act of infringement under section

3 501 and is fully subject to the remedies provided by

4 sections 502 through 506 and 509, except that—

5 ‘‘(A) no damages shall be awarded for such

6 act of infringement if the satellite carrier took

7 corrective action by promptly withdrawing serv8 ice from the ineligible subscriber; and

9 ‘‘(B) any statutory damages shall not ex10 ceed $5 for such subscriber for each month dur11 ing which the violation occurred.

12 ‘‘(2) PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.—If a satellite

13 carrier engages in a willful or repeated pattern or

14 practice of secondarily transmitting to the public a

15 primary transmission made by a television broadcast

16 station and embodying a performance or display of

17 a work to subscribers who do not reside in that sta18 tion’s local market, and are not subject to statutory

19 licensing under section 119, then in addition to the

20 remedies under paragraph (1)—

21 ‘‘(A) if the pattern or practice has been

22 carried out on a substantially nationwide basis,

23 the court shall order a permanent injunction

24 barring the secondary transmission by the sat25 ellite carrier of the primary transmissions of
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1 that television broadcast station (and if such

2 television broadcast station is a network sta3 tion, all other television broadcast stations af4 filiated with such network), and the court may

5 order statutory damages not exceeding

6 $250,000 for each 6-month period during which

7 the pattern or practice was carried out; and

8 ‘‘(B) if the pattern or practice has been

9 carried out on a local or regional basis with re10 spect to more than one television broadcast sta11 tion (and if such television broadcast station is

12 a network station, all other television broadcast

13 stations affiliated with such network), the court

14 shall order a permanent injunction barring the

15 secondary transmission in that locality or re16 gion by the satellite carrier of the primary

17 transmissions of any television broadcast sta18 tion, and the court may order statutory dam19 ages not exceeding $250,000 for each 6-month

20 period during which the pattern or practice was

21 carried out.

22 ‘‘(g) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any action brought

23 under subsection (d), (e), or (f), the satellite carrier shall

24 have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission

25 of a primary transmission by a television broadcast station
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1 is made only to subscribers located within that station’s

2 local market.

3 ‘‘(h) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS ON SECONDARY

4 TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license created by this

5 section shall apply to secondary transmissions to locations

6 in the United States, and any commonwealth, territory,

7 or possession of the United States.

8 ‘‘(i) EXCLUSIVITY WITH RESPECT TO SECONDARY

9 TRANSMISSIONS OF BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE

10 TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—No provision of section

11 111 or any other law (other than this section and section

12 119) shall be construed to contain any authorization, ex13 emption, or license through which secondary transmissions

14 by satellite carriers of programming contained in a pri15 mary transmission made by a television broadcast station

16 may be made without obtaining the consent of the copy17 right owner.

18 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

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

20 means an entity which contracts to distribute sec21 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei22 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

23 programming, provides the secondary transmission

24 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

25 through other program distribution entities.
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1 ‘‘(2) LOCAL MARKET.—The ‘local market’ of a

2 television broadcast station has the meaning given

3 that term under rules, regulations, and authoriza4 tions of the Federal Communications Commission

5 relating to carriage of television broadcast signals by

6 satellite carriers.

7 ‘‘(3) NETWORK STATION; SATELLITE CARRIER;

8 SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The terms ‘network

9 station’, ‘satellite carrier’ and ‘secondary trans10 mission’ have the meanings given such terms under

11 section 119(d).’’.

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

13 means an entity that receives a secondary trans14 mission service by means of a secondary trans15 mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv16 ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or

17 to a distributor.

18 ‘‘(5) 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 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

25 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United
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1 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating

2 to section 121 the following:

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

3 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS TO SEC4 TION 119 OF TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.

5 Section 4(a) of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of

6 1994 (17 U.S.C. 119 note; Public Law 103–369; 108

7 Stat. 3481) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 1999’’

8 and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2004’’.

9 SEC. 4. COMPUTATION OF ROYALTY FEES FOR SATELLITE

10 CARRIERS.

11 Section 119(c) of title 17, United States Code, is

12 amended by adding at the end the following new para13 graph:

14 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION.—

15 ‘‘(A) SUPERSTATION.—The rate of the

16 royalty fee in effect on January 1, 1998, pay17 able in each case under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i)

18 shall be reduced by 30 percent.

19 ‘‘(B) NETWORK.—The rate of the royalty

20 fee in effect on January 1, 1998, payable under

21 subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii) shall be reduced by 45

22 percent.

23 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE AS

24 AGENT.—For purposes of section 802, with respect
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1 to royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for re2 transmitting the Public Broadcasting Service sat3 ellite feed, the Public Broadcasting Service shall be

4 the agent for all public television copyright claimants

5 and all Public Broadcasting Service member sta6 tions.’’.

7 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

8 Section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code, is

9 amended by striking paragraph (10) and inserting the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(10) UNSERVED HOUSEHOLD.—The term

12 ‘unserved household’, with respect to a particular

13 television network, means a household that cannot

14 receive, through the use of a conventional outdoor

15 rooftop receiving antenna, an over-the-air signal of

16 grade B intensity (as defined by the Federal Com17 munications Commission) of a primary network sta18 tion affiliated with that network.’’.

19 SEC. 6. PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SATELLITE FEED.

20 (a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS.—Section 119(a)(1)

21 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—

22 (1) by striking the paragraph heading and in23 serting ‘‘(1) SUPERSTATIONS AND PBS SATELLITE

24 FEED.—’’;
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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘or by the Public Broadcasting

2 Service satellite feed’’ after ‘‘superstation’’; and

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In the

4 case of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite

5 feed, subsequent to January 1, 2001, or the date on

6 which local retransmissions of broadcast signals are

7 offered to the public, whichever is earlier, the statu8 tory license created by this section shall be condi9 tioned on the Public Broadcasting Service certifying

10 to the Copyright Office on an annual basis that its

11 membership supports the secondary transmission of

12 the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed, and

13 providing notice to the satellite carrier of such cer14 tification.’’.

15 (b) DEFINITION.—Section 119(d) of title 17, United

16 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow17 ing:

18 ‘‘(12) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT19 ELLITE FEED.—The term ‘Public Broadcasting

20 Service satellite feed’ means the national satellite

21 feed distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service

22 consisting of educational and informational program23 ming intended for private home viewing, to which

24 the Public Broadcasting Service holds national ter25 restrial broadcast rights.’’.
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1 SEC. 7. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.

2 Section 119(a)(2) of title 17, United States Code, is

3 amended by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(D) NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—A sat5 ellite carrier that makes secondary trans6 missions of a primary transmission made by a

7 network station pursuant to subparagraph (A)

8 shall, prior to providing service of broadcast

9 signals under this title to a subscriber, provide

10 the subscriber with a written statement describ11 ing and quoting the network territorial restric12 tions of subparagraph (B) of this paragraph

13 and describing and quoting the related provi14 sions of paragraphs (5), (9), and (10). Such

15 statement shall describe the circumstances

16 under which a subscriber may not be eligible for

17 satellite service of a particular network station.

18 With respect to subscribers currently receiving

19 broadcast signals under this title, the satellite

20 carrier shall provide the written statement de21 scribed in this subparagraph to such subscrib22 ers no later than 60 days after the enactment

23 of this subparagraph.’’.
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1 SEC. 8. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

2 COMMISSION REGULATIONS.

3 Section 119(a) of title 17, United States Code, is

4 amended—

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘ the satellite

6 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

7 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

8 Commission governing the carriage of television

9 broadcast station signals,’’ after ‘‘satellite carrier to

10 the public for private home viewing,’’; and

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘ the satellite

12 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

13 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

14 Commission governing the carriage of television

15 broadcast station signals,’’ after ‘‘satellite carrier to

16 the public for private home viewing,’’.

17 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

19 take effect on January 1, 2000, except that the amend20 ments made by section 4 shall take effect on July 1, 1999.

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