Union Calendar No. 52

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1027

[Report No. 106–86, Part I]

A BILL

To provide for the carriage by satellite carriers of

poses.local broadcast station signals, and for other purAPRIL 16, 1999

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the

Union and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of the
IB

Union Calendar No. 52

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1027

[Report No. 106–86, Part I]

To provide for the carriage by satellite carriers of local broadcast station

signals, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 8, 1999

Mr. COBLE 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

APRIL 12, 1999

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

APRIL 12, 1999

Referral to the Committee on Commerce extended for a period ending not

later than April 16, 1999

APRIL 16, 1999

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 8, 1999]

A BILL

To provide for the carriage by satellite carriers of local

broadcast station signals, and for other purposes.
2

•HR 1027 RH

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SECONDARY

7 TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS

8 WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.

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

10 Code, is amended by adding after section 121 the following

11 new section:

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

13 transmissions by satellite carriers within

14 local markets

15 ‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION

16 BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec17 ondary transmission of a primary transmission of a tele18 vision broadcast station into the station’s local market shall

19 be subject to statutory licensing under this section if—

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

21 satellite carrier to the public;

22 ‘‘(2) the satellite carrier is in compliance with

23 the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the Federal

24 Communications Commission governing the carriage

25 of television broadcast station signals; and
3

•HR 1027 RH

1 ‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi2 rect charge for the secondary transmission to—

3 ‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the secondary

4 transmission; or

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

6 the satellite carrier for direct or indirect delivery

7 of the secondary transmission to the public.

8 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

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

10 makes secondary transmissions of a primary trans11 mission made by a network station under subsection

12 (a) shall, within 90 days after commencing such sec13 ondary transmissions, submit to that station a list

14 identifying (by name in alphabetical order and street

15 address, including county and zip code) only those

16 subscribers located in that station’s local market to

17 which the satellite carrier currently makes secondary

18 transmissions of that primary transmission.

19 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub20 mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier

21 shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the station

22 a list identifying (by name and street address, includ23 ing county and zip code) any subscribers who have

24 been added or dropped as subscribers since the last

25 submission under this subsection.
4

•HR 1027 RH

1 ‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub2 scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier

3 under this subsection may be used only for the pur4 poses of monitoring compliance by the satellite carrier

5 with this section.

6 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS OF STATIONS.—The sub7 mission requirements of this subsection shall apply to

8 a satellite carrier only if the station to whom the sub9 missions are to be made places on file with the Reg10 ister of Copyrights a document identifying the name

11 and address of the person to whom such submissions

12 are to be made. The Register shall maintain for pub13 lic inspection a file of all such documents.

14 ‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite carrier

15 whose secondary transmissions are subject to statutory li16 censing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty obliga17 tion for such secondary transmissions.

18 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING REQUIRE19 MENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the willful or re20 peated secondary transmission to the public by a satellite

21 carrier into the local market of a television broadcast sta22 tion of a primary transmission made by that television

23 broadcast station and embodying a performance or display

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

25 section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided
5

•HR 1027 RH

1 under sections 502 through 506 and 509, if the satellite car2 rier has not complied with the reporting requirements of

3 subsection (b).

4 ‘‘(e) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding sub5 section (a), the secondary transmission to the public by a

6 satellite carrier into the local market of a television broad7 cast station of a primary transmission made by that tele8 vision broadcast station and embodying a performance or

9 display of a work is actionable as an act of infringement

10 under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies pro11 vided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and

12 510, if the content of the particular program in which the

13 performance or display is embodied, or any commercial ad14 vertising or station announcement transmitted by the pri15 mary transmitter during, or immediately before or after,

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

17 altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions,

18 or additions, or is combined with programming from any

19 other broadcast signal.

20 ‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS ON

21 STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION BROADCAST STA22 TIONS.—

23 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—The willful or re24 peated secondary transmission to the public by a sat25 ellite carrier of a primary transmission made by a
6

•HR 1027 RH

1 television broadcast station and embodying a per2 formance or display of a work to a subscriber who

3 does not reside in that station’s local market, and is

4 not subject to statutory licensing under section 119,

5 is actionable as an act of infringement under section

6 501 and is fully subject to the remedies provided by

7 sections 502 through 506 and 509, except that—

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

9 act of infringement if the satellite carrier took

10 corrective action by promptly withdrawing serv11 ice from the ineligible subscriber; and

12 ‘‘(B) any statutory damages shall not exceed

13 $5 for such subscriber for each month during

14 which the violation occurred.

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

16 carrier engages in a willful or repeated pattern or

17 practice of secondarily transmitting to the public a

18 primary transmission made by a television broadcast

19 station and embodying a performance or display of a

20 work to subscribers who do not reside in that station’s

21 local market, and are not subject to statutory licens22 ing under section 119, then in addition to the rem23 edies under paragraph (1)—

24 ‘‘(A) if the pattern or practice has been car25 ried out on a substantially nationwide basis, the
7

•HR 1027 RH

1 court shall order a permanent injunction barring

2 the secondary transmission by the satellite car3 rier of the primary transmissions of that tele4 vision broadcast station (and if such television

5 broadcast station is a network station, all other

6 television broadcast stations affiliated with such

7 network), and the court may order statutory

8 damages not exceeding $250,000 for each 6-

9 month period during which the pattern or prac10 tice was carried out; and

11 ‘‘(B) if the pattern or practice has been car12 ried out on a local or regional basis with respect

13 to more than one television broadcast station

14 (and if such television broadcast station is a net15 work station, all other television broadcast sta16 tions affiliated with such network), the court

17 shall order a permanent injunction barring the

18 secondary transmission in that locality or region

19 by the satellite carrier of the primary trans20 missions of any television broadcast station, and

21 the court may order statutory damages not ex22 ceeding $250,000 for each 6-month period during

23 which the pattern or practice was carried out.

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

25 under subsection (d), (e), or (f), the satellite carrier shall
8

•HR 1027 RH

1 have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission

2 of a primary transmission by a television broadcast station

3 is made only to subscribers located within that station’s

4 local market.

5 ‘‘(h) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS ON SECONDARY

6 TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license created by this sec7 tion shall apply to secondary transmissions to locations in

8 the United States, and any commonwealth, territory, or

9 possession of the United States.

10 ‘‘(i) EXCLUSIVITY WITH RESPECT TO SECONDARY

11 TRANSMISSIONS OF BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE

12 TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—No provision of section 111

13 or any other law (other than this section and section 119)

14 shall be construed to contain any authorization, exemption,

15 or license through which secondary transmissions by sat16 ellite carriers of programming contained in a primary

17 transmission made by a television broadcast station may

18 be made without obtaining the consent of the copyright

19 owner.

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

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

22 means an entity which contracts to distribute sec23 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei24 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

25 programming, provides the secondary transmission
9

•HR 1027 RH

1 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

2 through other program distribution entities.

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

4 television broadcast station has the meaning given

5 that term under rules, regulations, and authorizations

6 of the Federal Communications Commission relating

7 to carriage of television broadcast signals by satellite

8 carriers.

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

10 SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The terms ‘network sta11 tion’, ‘satellite carrier’ and ‘secondary transmission’

12 have the meanings given such terms under section

13 119(d).

14 ‘‘(4) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’ means

15 an entity that receives a secondary transmission serv16 ice by means of a secondary transmission from a sat17 ellite and pays a fee for the service, directly or indi18 rectly, to the satellite carrier or to a distributor.

19 ‘‘(5) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

20 term ‘television broadcast station’ means an over-the21 air, commercial or noncommercial television broad22 cast station licensed by the Federal Communications

23 Commission under subpart E of part 73 of title 47,

24 Code of Federal Regulations.’’.
10

•HR 1027 RH

1 (b) INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT.—Section 501 of

2 title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding at the

3 end the following new subsection:

4 ‘‘(f) With respect to any secondary transmission that

5 is made by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission

6 embodying the performance or display of a work and is ac7 tionable as an act of infringement under section 122, a tele8 vision broadcast station holding a copyright or other license

9 to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall,

10 for purposes of subsection (b) of this section, be treated as

11 a legal or beneficial owner if such secondary transmission

12 occurs within the local market of that station.’’.

13 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The

14 table of sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United States

15 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec16 tion 121 the following:

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

17 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS TO SEC18 TION 119 OF TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.

19 Section 4(a) of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994

20 (17 U.S.C. 119 note; Public Law 103–369; 108 Stat. 3481)

21 is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 1999’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘December 31, 2004’’.
11

•HR 1027 RH

1 SEC. 4. COMPUTATION OF ROYALTY FEES FOR SATELLITE

2 CARRIERS.

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

4 amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION.—

6 ‘‘(A) SUPERSTATION.—The rate of the roy7 alty fee in effect on January 1, 1998, payable in

8 each case under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i) shall be

9 reduced by 30 percent.

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

11 in effect on January 1, 1998, payable under sub12 section (b)(1)(B)(ii) shall be reduced by 45 per13 cent.

14 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE AS

15 AGENT.—For purposes of section 802, with respect to

16 royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for retransmit17 ting the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed, the

18 Public Broadcasting Service shall be the agent for all

19 public television copyright claimants and all Public

20 Broadcasting Service member stations.’’.

21 SEC. 5. PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SATELLITE FEED;

22 DEFINITIONS.

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

24 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—
12

•HR 1027 RH

1 (1) by striking the paragraph heading and in2 serting ‘‘(1) SUPERSTATIONS AND PBS SATELLITE

3 FEED.—’’;

4 (2) by inserting ‘‘or by the Public Broadcasting

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

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

7 case of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed,

8 subsequent to—

9 ‘‘(A) the date when a majority of sub10 scribers to satellite carriers are able to receive the

11 signal of at least one noncommercial educational

12 television broadcast station from their satellite

13 carrier within such stations’ local market, or

14 ‘‘(B) 2 years after the effective date of the

15 Copyright Compulsory License Improvement Act,

16 whichever is earlier, the statutory license created by

17 this section shall be conditioned on the Public Broad18 casting Service certifying to the Copyright Office on

19 an annual basis that its membership supports the sec20 ondary transmission of the Public Broadcasting Serv21 ice satellite feed, and providing notice to the satellite

22 carrier of such certification.’’.

23 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 119(d) of title 17, United

24 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
13

•HR 1027 RH

1 ‘‘(12) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT2 ELLITE FEED.—The term ‘Public Broadcasting Serv3 ice satellite feed’ means the national satellite feed dis4 tributed by the Public Broadcasting Service con5 sisting of educational and informational program6 ming intended for private home viewing, to which the

7 Public Broadcasting Service holds national terrestrial

8 broadcast rights.

9 ‘‘(13) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local market’

10 has the meaning given that term in section 122(j)(2).

11 ‘‘(14) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

12 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

13 given that term in section 122(j)(5).’’.

14 SEC. 6. LOCAL TO LOCAL RETRANSMISSIONS.

15 Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is

16 amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)—

18 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(6)’’ and

19 inserting ‘‘(5)’’;

20 (B) in paragraph (2)—

21 (i) by striking

22 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi24 sions of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this para25 graph and paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6)’’
14

•HR 1027 RH

1 and inserting

2 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATIONS.—Subject to the provi3 sions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5)’’ and running

4 in the remaining text of the subparagraph;

5 (ii) by adding at the end of paragraph

6 (2) the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the pre7 ceding provisions of this paragraph, sec8 ondary transmissions of programming con9 tained in a primary transmission made by

10 a network station and embodying a per11 formance or display of a work shall not be

12 subject to statutory licensing under this sec13 tion in a local market in which the satellite

14 carrier, or another satellite carrier, is serv15 ing subscribers in that market with 2 or

16 more television broadcast stations located in

17 that market pursuant to section 122.’’; and

18 (iii) by striking subparagraphs (B)

19 and (C);

20 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, or has

21 failed to make the submissions to networks re22 quired by paragraph (2)(C)’’; and

23 (D) by striking paragraphs (5), (8), (9),

24 and (10) and redesignating paragraphs (6) and

25 (7) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and
15

•HR 1027 RH

1 (2) in subsection (d), by striking paragraphs

2 (10) and (11).

3 SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COM4 MISSION REGULATIONS.

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

6 amended—

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

8 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

9 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

10 Commission governing the carriage of television

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

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

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

14 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

15 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

16 Commission governing the carriage of television

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

18 the public for private home viewing,’’.

19 SEC. 8. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

20 Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

21 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—

22 (1) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) and in23 serting the following:
16

•HR 1027 RH

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

2 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

3 broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except—

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

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

6 station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to

7 assert the right to carriage under such section; or

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

9 station electing, in accordance with this subsection, to

10 assert the right to carriage under such section.

11 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply

12 to—

13 ‘‘(A) retransmission of the signal of a non14 commercial broadcasting station;

15 ‘‘(B) retransmission of the signal of a television

16 broadcast station outside the station’s local market by

17 a satellite carrier directly to its subscribers, if—

18 ‘‘(i) such station was a superstation on May

19 1, 1991; and

20 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was

21 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

22 statutory license provided in section 119 of title

23 17, United States Code;

24 ‘‘(C) retransmission of the signal of a broad25 casting station that is owned or operated by, or affili-
17

•HR 1027 RH

1 ated with, a broadcasting network directly to a home

2 satellite antenna, if the household receiving the signal

3 is located in an area in which such station may not

4 assert its rights not to have its signal duplicated

5 under the Commission’s network nonduplication regu6 lations; or

7 ‘‘(D) retransmission by a cable operator or other

8 multichannel video provider of the signal of a tele9 vision broadcast station outside the station’s local

10 market if such signal was obtained from a satellite

11 carrier and—

12 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta13 tion on May 1, 1991; and

14 ‘‘(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was

15 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

16 statutory license provided in section 119 of title

17 17, United States Code.’’;

18 (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the

19 following new subparagraph:

20 ‘‘(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of the Sat21 ellite Television Improvement Act, the Commission shall

22 commence a rulemaking proceeding to revise the regulations

23 governing the exercise by television broadcast stations of the

24 right to grant retransmission consent under this subsection,

25 and such other regulations as are necessary to administer
18

•HR 1027 RH

1 the limitation contained in paragraph (2). Such regula2 tions shall establish election time periods that correspond

3 with those regulations adopted under subparagraph (B).

4 The rulemaking shall be completed within 180 days after

5 the effective date of the Satellite Television Improvement

6 Act.’’; and

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new para8 graph:

9 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection:

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘superstation’ means a television

11 broadcast station, other than a network station, li12 censed by the Commission that is secondarily trans13 mitted by a satellite carrier.

14 ‘‘(B) The term ‘satellite carrier’ has the meaning

15 given that term in section 119(d) of title 17, United

16 States Code.’’.

17 SEC. 9. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE18 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG19 NALS.

20 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amend21 ed by inserting after section 337 the following new section:

22 ‘‘SEC. 338. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY

23 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

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

25 providing direct to home service of a television broadcast
19

•HR 1027 RH

1 station to subscribers located within the local market of such

2 station pursuant to section 122 of title 17, United States

3 Code, shall, not later than January 1, 2002, carry all tele4 vision broadcast stations located within that local market.

5 Carriage of additional television broadcast stations within

6 the local market shall be at the discretion of the satellite

7 carrier, subject to section 325(b).

8 ‘‘(b) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—

9 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—A television broadcast station as10 serting its right to carriage under subsection (a) shall

11 be required to bear the costs associated with delivering

12 a good quality signal to the designated local receive

13 facility of the satellite carrier. The selection of a local

14 receive facility by a satellite carrier shall not be made

15 in a manner that frustrates the purposes of this sec16 tion.

17 ‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—The regulations issued

18 under subsection (g) shall set forth the obligations

19 necessary to carry out this subsection.

20 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding

21 subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be required to

22 carry the signal of any local television broadcast station

23 that substantially duplicates the signal of another local tele24 vision broadcast station which is secondarily transmitted

25 by the satellite carrier, or to carry the signals of more that
20

•HR 1027 RH

1 one local television broadcast station affiliated with a par2 ticular broadcast network (as the term is defined by regula3 tion).

4 ‘‘(d) CHANNEL POSITIONING.—No satellite carrier

5 shall be required to provide the signal of a local television

6 broadcast station to subscribers in that station’s local mar7 ket on any particular channel number or to provide the

8 signals in any particular order, except that the satellite car9 rier shall retransmit the signal of the local television broad10 cast station to subscribers in that station’s local market on

11 contiguous channels and in a nondiscriminatory manner

12 on any navigational device, on-screen program guide, or

13 menu.

14 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION FOR CARRIAGE.—A satellite car15 rier shall not accept or request monetary payment or other

16 valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage of

17 local television broadcast stations in fulfillment of the re18 quirements of this section or for channel positioning rights

19 provided to such stations under this section, except that any

20 such station may be required to bear the costs associated

21 with delivering a good quality signal to the local receive

22 facility of the satellite carrier.

23 ‘‘(f) REMEDIES.—

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

25 Whenever a local television broadcast station believes
21

•HR 1027 RH

1 that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga2 tions under this section, such station shall notify the

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

4 its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier is ob5 ligated to carry the signal of such station or has oth6 erwise failed to comply with the channel positioning

7 or repositioning or other requirements of this section.

8 The satellite carrier shall, within 30 days of such

9 written notification, respond in writing to such noti10 fication and either commence to carry the signal of

11 such station in accordance with the terms requested or

12 state its reasons for believing that it is not obligated

13 to carry such signal or is in compliance with the

14 channel positioning and repositioning or other re15 quirements of this section. A local television broadcast

16 station that is denied carriage or channel positioning

17 or repositioning in accordance with this section by a

18 satellite carrier may obtain review of such denial by

19 filing a complaint with the Commission. Such com20 plaint shall allege the manner in which such satellite

21 carrier has failed to meet its obligations and the basis

22 for such allegations.

23 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Commis24 sion shall afford such satellite carrier and oppor25 tunity to present data and arguments to establish
22

•HR 1027 RH

1 that there has been no failure to meet its obligations

2 under this section.

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

4 120 days after the date a complaint is filed, the Com5 mission shall determine whether the satellite carrier

6 has met its obligations under this section. If the Com7 mission determines that the satellite carrier has failed

8 to meet such obligations, the Commission shall order

9 the satellite carrier to reposition the complaining sta10 tion or, in the case of an obligation to carry a sta11 tion, to commence carriage of the station and to con12 tinue such carriage for at least 12 months. If the

13 Commission determines that the satellite carrier has

14 fully met the requirements of this section, it shall dis15 miss the complaint.

16 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS BY COMMISSION.—Within 180

17 days after the effective date of this section, the Commission

18 shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue regulations

19 implementing the requirements imposed by this section.

20 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

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

22 term ‘television broadcast station’ means a full-power

23 television broadcast station, and does not include a

24 low-power or translator television broadcast station.
23

•HR 1027 RH

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

2 means the designated market area in which a station

3 is located.

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

5 ‘designated market area’ means a designated market

6 area, as determined by the Nielsen Media Research

7 and published in the DMA Market and Demographic

8 Report or, if no longer published, as determined by

9 another commercial publication that delineates tele10 vision markets based on viewing patterns.

11 ‘‘(4) LOCAL RECEIVE FACILITY.—The term local

12 receive facility means the reception point in the local

13 market of a television broadcast station or in a mar14 ket contiguous to the local market of a television

15 broadcast station at which a satellite carrier initially

16 receives the signal of the station for purposes of trans17 mission of such signals to the facility which uplinks

18 the signals to the carrier’s satellites for secondary

19 transmission to the satellite carrier’s subscribers. The

20 designation of a local receive facility by a satellite

21 carrier shall not be used to undermine or evade the

22 carriage requirements imposed by this section.’’.

23 SEC. 10. NETWORK NONDUPLICATION; SYNDICATED EXCLU24 SIVITY AND SPORTS BLACKOUT.

25 (a) REGULATIONS.—
24

•HR 1027 RH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 45 days after the effec2 tive date of this Act, the Federal Communications

3 Commission shall commence a rulemaking to establish

4 regulations that apply network nonduplication pro5 tection, syndicated exclusivity protection, and sports

6 blackout protection to the retransmission of broadcast

7 signals by satellite carriers to subscribers. To the ex8 tent possible, and where technologically feasible and

9 economically reasonable, such regulations shall, sub10 ject to paragraph (2), include the same level of protec11 tion accorded retransmissions of television broadcast

12 signals by cable systems for network nonduplication

13 (47 C.F.R. 76.92), syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R.

14 151), and sports blackout (47 C.F.R. 76.67). The

15 Commission shall complete all action necessary to

16 prescribe the regulations required by this section so

17 that the regulations shall become effective within 1

18 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 (2) NETWORK NONDUPLICATION.—The network

20 nonduplication regulations required under paragraph

21 (1) shall allow a network television broadcast station

22 to assert nonduplication rights—

23 (A) against a satellite carrier throughout

24 that station’s local market if that satellite carrier

25 is retransmitting that station pursuant to sec-
25

•HR 1027 RH

1 tion 122 of title 17, United States Code, or other

2 television broadcast stations located in the same

3 local market pursuant to section 122 of title 17,

4 United States Code, except for television broad5 cast stations located in that same market that

6 are affiliated with the same network as the sta7 tion, to subscribers located in that station’s local

8 market; or

9 (B) against a satellite carrier retransmit10 ting television broadcast stations pursuant to

11 section 119 of title 17, United States Code, in the

12 geographic area in which the signal of that tele13 vision broadcast station is of Grade B intensity

14 as defined by the Federal Communications Com15 mission on March 1, 1999, in section 73.683(a)

16 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, based

17 upon the Individually Located Longley-Rice

18 methodology described by the Federal Commu19 nications Commission in its Docket No. 98–201,

20 but such geographic area shall not extend beyond

21 the local market of such station.

22 If a subscriber’s network service is terminated as a re23 sult of network nonduplication protection asserted by

24 a local network television broadcast station under

25 subparagraph (B), or as a result of the provisions of
26

•HR 1027 RH

1 section 119 of title 17, United States Code, the sat2 ellite carrier shall provide to the subscriber free of

3 charge an over-the-air television broadcast receiving

4 antenna that will provide the subscriber with an over5 the-air signal of Grade B intensity for those network

6 stations that were terminated as a result of subpara7 graph (B).

8 (3) WAIVERS.—(A) The network nonduplication

9 protection described in paragraph (2)(b) shall not

10 apply to a subscriber located in the geographic area

11 that is identified by the Individually Located

12 Longley-Rice methodology described by the Federal

13 Communications Commission in its Docket No. 98–

14 201 who files with the satellite carrier a written

15 waiver with respect to that subscriber’s household ob16 tained from the network station whose local market is

17 in that geographic area, allowing the subscriber to re18 ceive satellite service of another network station affili19 ated with that same network. The local network sta20 tion and the satellite carrier shall maintain a file

21 available to the public that contains such waiver.

22 (B) If a subscriber within the local market of a

23 network station petitions the Federal Communica24 tions Commission with the written findings and con25 clusions of a test conducted in accordance with the
27

•HR 1027 RH

1 provisions of section 73.686(d) of title 47, Code of

2 Federal Regulations, as in effect on March 1, 1999,

3 demonstrating that the household in which the sub4 scriber resides does not receive an over-the-air signal

5 of the network station of Grade B intensity, the net6 work station shall have 30 days in which to file with

7 the Commission an objection to the petition. If the

8 network station does not file a timely objection, then

9 the station may not assert network nonduplication

10 protection described in paragraph (2)(B) with respect

11 to that subscriber’s household. If the station does file

12 a timely objection, then the Commission shall have

13 120 days in which to determine the sufficiency of the

14 subscriber’s petition. If the Commission determines

15 that the petition is sufficient, then The network non16 duplication protection described in paragraph (2)(B)

17 shall not apply to that subscriber’s household.

18 (4) INTERIM PROVISIONS.—Until the Federal

19 Communications Commission issues regulations

20 under paragraphs (1) and (3), no subscriber whose

21 household is located outside the Grade A contour of a

22 network station shall have his or her satellite service

23 of another network station affiliated with that same

24 network terminated as a result of the provisions of

25 section 119 of title 17, United States Code.
28

•HR 1027 RH

1 (5) LOCAL MARKET DEFINED.—The term ‘‘local

2 market’’ has the meaning provided in section 337(h)

3 of the Communications Act of 1934, as added by sec4 tion 3 of this Act.

5 (b) DEFERRED APPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS TO

6 SECTION 119 OF TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.—Not7 withstanding the amendments to section 119 of title 17,

8 United States Code, made by this Act, until the regulations

9 regarding network nonduplication protection are estab10 lished under subsection (a), the statutory license under sub11 section (a) of such section 119 for secondary transmissions

12 of primary transmissions of programming contained in a

13 primary transmission made by a network station (as de14 fined in section 119(d) of title 17, United States Code, as

15 in effect on the day before the effective date of this Act) shall

16 be limited to secondary transmissions to persons who reside

17 in unserved households (as defined in section 119(d) of title

18 17, United States Code, as in effect on the day before the

19 effective date of this Act).

20 SEC. 11. STUDY ON TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF

21 MUST-CARRY ON DELIVERY OF LOCAL SIG22 NALS.

23 Not later than July 1, 2000, the Register of Copyrights

24 and the Federal Communications Commission shall submit

25 to the Congress a joint report that sets forth in detail their
29

•HR 1027 RH

1 findings and conclusions with respect to the technical feasi2 bility of imposing the requirements of section 337 of the

3 Communications Act of 1934 on satellite carriers that de4 liver local signals, and the technical and economic impact

5 of such section on the ability of satellite carriers to serve

6 multiple television markets with retransmission of local tel7 evision broadcast stations. In preparing this report, the

8 Register of Copyrights and the Commission shall give par9 ticular consideration to how section 337 of the Communica10 tions Act of 1934 affects the technical limitations and eco11 nomic incentives for satellite retransmissions of local tele12 vision broadcast signals in television markets other than the

13 100 largest television markets in the United States (as de14 termined by the Nielsen Media Research and published in

15 the DMA Market and Demographic Report).

16 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

18 take effect on July 1, 1999, except that—

19 (1) the amendments made by section 5 shall take

20 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act; and

21 (2) the amendment made by section 6(1)(B)(ii)

22 shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the

23 date of the enactment of this Act.