§ 73.1207 Rebroadcasts. ( a ) The term *rebroadcast* means reception by radio of the programs or other transmissions of a broadcast or any other type of radio station, and the simultaneous or subsequent retransmission of such programs or transmissions by a broadcast station. ( 1 ) As used in this section, “program” includes any complete programs or part thereof.
( 2 ) The transmission of a program from its point of origin to a broadcast station entirely by common carrier facilities, whether by wire line or radio, is not considered a rebroadcast.
( 3 ) The broadcasting of a program relayed by a remote pickup broadcast station is not considered a rebroadcast.
( b ) No broadcast station may retransmit the program, or any part thereof, of another U.S. broadcast station without the express authority of the originating station. A copy of the written consent of the licensee originating the program must be kept by the licensee of the station retransmitting such program and made available to the FCC upon request. ( 1 ) Stations originating emergency communications under a State EAS plan are considered to have conferred rebroadcast authority to other participating stations.
( 2 ) Permission must be obtained from the originating station to rebroadcast any subsidiary communications transmitted by means of a multiplex subcarrier.
( 3 ) Programs originated by the Voice of America (VOA) and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services (AFRTS) cannot, in general, be cleared for domestic rebroadcast, and may therefore be retransmitted only by special arrangements among the parties concerned.
( 4 ) Except as otherwise provided by international agreement, programs originated by foreign broadcast stations may be retransmitted without the consent of the originating station.
( c ) The transmissions of non-broadcast stations may be rebroadcast under the following conditions: ( 1 ) Messages originated by privately-owned non-broadcast stations other than those in the Amateur and CB Radio Services may be broadcast only upon receipt of prior permission from the non-broadcast licensee. Additionally, messages transmitted by common carrier stations may be rebroadcast only upon prior permission of the originator of the message as well as the station licensee.
( 2 ) Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, messages originated entirely by non-broadcast stations owned and operated by the Federal Government may be rebroadcast only upon receipt of prior permission from the government agency originating the messages.
( 3 ) Messages originated by stations in the Amateur and CB Radio Services may be rebroadcast at the discretion of broadcast station licensees.
( 4 ) Emergency communications originated under a State EAS plan.
( d ) The rebroadcasting of time signals originated by the Naval Observatory and the National Bureau of Standards and messages from the National Weather Service stations is permitted without specific authorization under the following procedures: ( 1 ) *Naval Observatory Time Signals.* ( i ) The time signals rebroadcast must be obtained by direct radio reception from a naval radio station, or by land line circuits.
( ii ) Announcement of the time signal must be made without reference to any commercial activity.
( iii ) Identification of the Naval Observatory as the source of the time signal must be made by an announcement, substantially as follows: “With the signal, the time will be . . . courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory.”
( iv ) Schedules of time signal broadcasts may be obtained upon request from the Superintendent, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC 20390.
( 2 ) *National Bureau of Standards Time Signals.* ( i ) Time signals for rebroadcast must be obtained by direct radio reception from a National Bureau of Standards (NBS) station.
( ii ) Use of receiving and rebroadcasting equipment must not delay the signals by more than 0.05 second.
( iii ) Signals must be rebroadcast live, not from tape or other recording.
( iv ) Voice or code announcements of the call signs of NBS stations are not to be rebroadcast.
( v ) Identification of the origin of the service and the source of the signals must be made by an announcement substantially as follows: “At the tone, 11 hours 25 minutes *Coordinated Universal Time.* This is a rebroadcast of a continous service furnished by the National Bureau of Standards, Ft. Collins, Colo.” No commercial sponsorship of this announcement is permitted and none may be implied.
( vi ) Schedules of time signal broadcasts may be obtained from, and notice of use of NBS time signals for rebroadcast must be forwarded semiannually to: National Bureau of Standards, Radio Stations WWV/WWVB, 2000 East County Road 58, Ft. Collins, Colorado 80524.
( vii ) In the rebroadcasting of NBS time signals, announcements will not state that they are standard frequency transmissions. Voice announcements of *Coordinated Universal Time* are given in voice every minute. Each minute, except the first of the hour, begins with an 0.8 second long tone of 1000 hertz at WWV and 1200 hertz tone at WWVH. The first minute of every hour begins with an 0.8 second long tone of 1500 hertz at both stations. This tone is followed by a 3-second pause, than the announcement, “National Bureau of Standards Time.” This is followed by another 3-second pause before station identification. This arrangement allows broadcast stations sufficient time to retransmit the hour time tone and the words “National Bureau of Standards Time” either by manual or automatic switching.
( viii ) Time signals or scales made up from integration of standard frequency signals broadcast from NBS stations may not be designated as national standard scales of time or attributed to the NBS as originator. For example, if a broadcasting station transmits time signals obtained from a studio clock which is periodically calibrated against the NBS time signals from WWV or WWVH, such signals may not be announced as NBS standard time or as having been originated by the NBS.
( 3 ) *National Weather Service Messages.* ( i ) Messages of the National Weather Service must be rebroadcast within 1 hour of receipt.
( ii ) If advertisements are given in connection with weather rebroadcast, these advertisements must not directly or indirectly convey an endorsement by the U.S. Government of the products or services so advertised.
( iii ) Credit must be given to indicate that the rebroadcast message originates with the National Weather Service.
[44 FR 36040, June 20, 1979, as amended at 45 FR 26065, Apr. 17, 1980; 48 FR 28456, June 22, 1983; 50 FR 25246, June 18, 1985; 59 FR 67102, Dec. 28, 1994; 61 FR 36305, July 10, 1996; 82 FR 41103, Aug. 29, 2017; 89 FR 7254, Feb. 1, 2024]