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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4936 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4936

       To amend title 17, United States Code, to exempt business 
   establishments from copyright fees for the public performance of 
   nondramatic musical works by television and radio sets, to exempt 
certain choral groups from paying copyright fees, to provide for court-
  annexed arbitration in royalty disputes involving performing rights 
     societies, and to ensure computer access to music repertoire.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            August 10, 1994

  Mr. Reed (for himself, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Synar, Mr. Rose, Mr. 
    Gekas, and Mr. Zeliff) introduced the following bill, which was 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
       To amend title 17, United States Code, to exempt business 
   establishments from copyright fees for the public performance of 
   nondramatic musical works by television and radio sets, to exempt 
certain choral groups from paying copyright fees, to provide for court-
  annexed arbitration in royalty disputes involving performing rights 
     societies, and to ensure computer access to music repertoire.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness in Musical Licensing Act of 
1994''.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS EXEMPTION FOR TELEVISION AND RADIO SETS.

    Section 110(5) of title 17, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
            ``(5) communication of a transmission embodying a 
        performance or display of a work by the public reception of the 
        transmission by television or radio sets located in a business 
        establishment, unless a direct or indirect charge is made to 
        see or hear the transmission;''.

SEC. 3. CHORAL GROUP EXEMPTION FROM PUBLIC PERFORMANCE RIGHT.

    Section 110 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (10) and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) performance of a nondramatic musical work by a 
        choral group of a nonprofit educational institution choral 
        group, unless a direct or indirect charge is made to hear the 
        performance.''.

SEC. 4. ARBITRATION OF RATE DISPUTES INVOLVING PERFORMING RIGHTS 
              SOCIETIES.

    Section 504 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding 
the following:
    ``(d) Arbitration.--In any civil action for infringement of the 
right granted in section 106(4) involving a nondramatic musical work 
that is licensed by a performing rights society or other organization 
authorized to license public performances of nondramatic musical works, 
where the defendant admits liability but contests the amount of the 
license fee charged by such society or organization, the dispute may, 
if requested by either party, be submitted to arbitration under section 
652(e) of title 28.''.

SEC. 5. ACCESS TO REPERTOIRE.

    Section 504 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(e) Computer Access to Musical Repertoire.--Performing rights 
societies and other organizations authorized to license nondramatic 
musical works for public performances shall make available, free of 
charge, to licensees or those negotiating licenses, on-line computer 
access to its entire repertoire. Such access shall include information 
regarding the title of the work, the name, address, and telephone 
number of the author and the copyright owner (if different), and the 
names of any artists known to have performed the work.''.

SEC. 6. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Definition.--Section 101 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after to ``perform'' a work the following:
            ``A `performing rights society' is an association or 
        corporation that licenses the public performance of nondramatic 
        musical works on behalf of copyright owners of such works, such 
        as the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 
        Broadcast Music, Inc., and SESAC, Inc.''.
    (b) Amendment to title 28, United States Code.--Section 652 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(e) Certain Copyright Actions.--In any civil action for 
infringement of the right granted in section 106(4) of title 17 
involving a nondramatic musical work that is licensed by a performing 
rights society or other organization authorized to license public 
performances of nondramatic musical works, where the defendant admits 
liability but contests the amount of the license fee charged by such 
society or organization, the district court may, if requested by either 
party, refer the dispute to arbitration with respect to that defendant. 
Each district court shall establish procedures by local rule 
authorizing the use of arbitration under this subsection.''.
                                 <all>
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