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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1103

To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home viewing,

and with respect to cable systems.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1993

Mr. HUGHES (for himself and Mr. MOORHEAD) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to

secondary transmissions of superstations and network

stations for private home viewing, and with respect to

cable systems.

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

3 TITLE I—SATELLITE CARRIERS

4 SEC. 101. SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR5 RIERS.

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

7 amended as follows:
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1 (1) Subsection (a)(2)(C) is amended in the first

2 sentence—

3 (A) by striking ‘‘90 days after the effective

4 date of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988,

5 or’’; and

6 (B) by striking ‘‘whichever is later,’’.

7 (2) Subsection (b)(1)(B) is amended—

8 (A) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘12 cents’’

9 and inserting ‘‘17.5 cents per subscriber in the

10 case of superstations not subject to syndicated

11 exclusivity under the regulations of the Federal

12 Communications Commission, and 14 cents per

13 subscriber in the case of superstations subject

14 to such syndicated exclusivity’’; and

15 (B) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘3’’ and in16 serting ‘‘6’’.

17 (3) Subsection (c) is amended—

18 (A) in the subsection caption by striking

19 ‘‘DETERMINATION’’ and inserting ‘‘ADJUST20 MENT’’;

21 (B) in paragraph (1)—

22 (i) by striking ‘‘until December 31,

23 1992,’’; and

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘compulsory’’;

25 (C) in paragraph (2)—
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1 (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and

2 redesignating subparagraphs (B), (C), and

3 (D) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C),

4 respectively;

5 (ii) in subparagraph (A) (as so redes6 ignated) by striking ‘‘Satellite’’ in the first

7 sentence and inserting ‘‘In accordance with

8 paragraph (3), satellite’’; and

9 (iii) in subparagraph (C) (as so redes10 ignated) by striking ‘‘December 31, 1994’’

11 and inserting ‘‘adjusted under paragraph

12 (3)’’; and

13 (D) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking the

14 first sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘On

15 or before June 1, 1995, and in each subsequent

16 fifth calendar year, the Copyright Royalty Tri17 bunal shall cause notice to be published in the

18 Federal Register of the initiation of arbitration

19 proceedings for the purpose of determining a

20 reasonable royalty fee to be paid under sub21 section (b)(1)(B) by satellite carriers who are

22 not parties to a voluntary agreement filed with

23 the Copyright Office in accordance with para24 graph (2).’’.
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1 TITLE II—SECONDARY TRANS2 MISSIONS BY CABLE SYSTEMS

3 SEC. 201. DEFINITION OF CABLE SYSTEM.

4 (a) DEFINITION.—Section 111(f) of title 17, United

5 States Code, is amended by striking the definition of

6 ‘‘cable system’’ and inserting the following:

7 ‘‘A ‘cable system’ is a facility, other than a satellite

8 carrier to which section 119 of this title applies, that in

9 whole or in part receives signals embodying a performance

10 or display of a work, transmitted by one or more broadcast

11 stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commis12 sion or an appropriate governmental authority of Canada

13 or Mexico, and makes secondary transmissions of such sig14 nals to subscribing members of the public who pay for

15 such service.’’.

16 (b) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

17 COMMISSION RULES AND REGULATIONS.—For purposes

18 of determining the royalty fees paid under subsection

19 (d)(1) of section 111 of title 17, United States Code, by

20 a cable system as defined in subsection (f) of such section

21 (as amended by subsection (a) of this section), the rules

22 and regulations of the Federal Communications Commis23 sion in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act

24 shall apply on and after such date to all cable systems
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1 as so defined to the same extent as such rules and regula2 tions applied to cable systems before such date.

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