103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1485

AN ACT

To extend certain satellite carrier compulsory

licenses, and for other purposes.
103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1485

AN ACT

To extend certain satellite carrier compulsory licenses, 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 ‘‘Satellite Compulsory

5 License Extension Act of 1994’’.
2

S 1485 ES

1 SEC. 2. STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.

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

3 amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(C)—

5 (A) by striking out ‘‘90 days after the ef6 fective date of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of

7 1988, or’’;

8 (B) by striking out ‘‘whichever is later,’’;

9 (C) by inserting ‘‘name and’’ after ‘‘identi10 fying (by’’ each place it appears; and

11 (D) by striking out ‘‘, on or after the effec12 tive date of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of

13 1988,’’;

14 (2) in subsection (a)(5)—

15 (A) in subparagraph (C) by striking out

16 ‘‘the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988’’ and

17 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘this section’’; and

18 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol19 lowing new subparagraphs:

20 ‘‘(D) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any action

21 brought under this subsection, the satellite car22 rier shall have the burden of proof (in the case

23 of a primary transmission by a network station)

24 that a subscriber is an unserved household.

25 ‘‘(E) SIGNAL INTENSITY MEASUREMENT;

26 LOSER PAYS.—
3

S 1485 ES

1 ‘‘(i) GRADE B CONTOUR.—(I) Within

2 the Grade B Contour, upon a challenge by

3 a network affiliate regarding whether a

4 subscriber is an unserved household, the

5 satellite carrier shall—

6 ‘‘(aa) deauthorize service to that

7 household; or

8 ‘‘(bb) conduct a measurement of

9 the signal intensity of the subscriber’s

10 household to determine whether the

11 household is unserved.

12 ‘‘(II) If the carrier conducts a signal

13 intensity measurement under subclause (I)

14 and the measurement indicates that—

15 ‘‘(aa) the household is not an

16 unserved household, the carrier shall

17 immediately deauthorize the service to

18 that household; or

19 ‘‘(bb) the household is an

20 unserved household, the affiliate chal21 lenging the service shall reimburse the

22 carrier for the costs of the signal

23 measurement, within 45 days after re24 ceipt of the measurement results and

25 a statement of the costs.
4

S 1485 ES

1 ‘‘(III)(aa) Notwithstanding subclause

2 (II), a carrier may not be required to test

3 in excess of 5 percent of the subscribers

4 that have subscribed to service before the

5 effective date of the Satellite Compulsory

6 License Extension Act of 1994, within any

7 market during a calendar year.

8 ‘‘(bb) If a network affiliate challenges

9 whether a subscriber is an unserved house10 hold in excess of the 5 percent of the sub11 scribers within any market, the affiliate

12 may conduct its own signal intensity meas13 urement. If such measurement indicates

14 that the household is not an unserved

15 household, the carrier shall immediately

16 deauthorize service to that household and

17 reimburse the affiliate, within 45 days

18 after receipt of the measurement and a

19 statement of costs.

20 ‘‘(ii) OUTSIDE THE GRADE B CON21 TOUR.—(I) Outside the Grade B Contour,

22 if a network affiliate challenges whether a

23 subscriber is an unserved household the af24 filiate shall conduct a signal intensity

25 measurement of the subscriber’s household
5

S 1485 ES

1 to determine whether the household is

2 unserved.

3 ‘‘(II) If the affiliate conducts a signal

4 intensity measurement under subclause (I)

5 and the measurement indicates that—

6 ‘‘(aa) the household is not an

7 unserved household, the affiliate shall

8 forward the results to the carrier who

9 shall immediately deauthorize service

10 to the household, and reimburse the

11 affiliate within 45 days after receipt

12 of the results and a statement of the

13 costs; or

14 ‘‘(bb) the household is an

15 unserved household, the affiliate shall

16 pay the costs of the measurement.

17 ‘‘(iii) RECOVERY OF MEASUREMENT

18 COSTS IN A CIVIL ACTION.—In any civil ac19 tion filed relating to the eligibility of sub20 scribing households, a challenging affiliate

21 shall reimburse a carrier for any signal in22 tensity measurement that indicates the

23 household is an unserved household.’’;

24 (3) in subsection (b)(1)(B)—
6

S 1485 ES

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

2 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘17.5 cents per

3 subscriber in the case of superstations not sub4 ject to syndicated exclusivity under the regula5 tions of the Federal Communications Commis6 sion, and 14 cents per subscriber in the case of

7 superstations subject to such syndicated exclu8 sivity’’; and

9 (B) in clause (ii) by striking out ‘‘3’’ and

10 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘6’’;

11 (4) in subsection (c)—

12 (A) in the heading for paragraph (1) by

13 striking out ‘‘DETERMINATION’’ and inserting

14 in lieu thereof ‘‘ADJUSTMENT’’;

15 (B) in paragraph (1)—

16 (i) by striking out ‘‘December 31,

17 1992, unless’’; and

18 (ii) by striking out ‘‘After that date,’’

19 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘All adjust20 ments of’’;

21 (C) in paragraph (2)—

22 (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking

23 out ‘‘July 1, 1991,’’ and inserting in lieu

24 thereof ‘‘January 1, 1996,’’; and
7

S 1485 ES

1 (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking

2 out ‘‘until December 31, 1994’’ and insert3 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘in accordance with the

4 terms of the agreement’’; and

5 (D) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking out

6 ‘‘December 31, 1991,’’ and inserting in lieu

7 thereof ‘‘July 1, 1996,’’; and

8 (5) in subsection (d)—

9 (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as

10 follows:

11 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATION.—The term ‘network

12 station’ means—

13 ‘‘(A) a television broadcast station, includ14 ing any translator station or terrestrial satellite

15 station that rebroadcasts all or substantially all

16 of the programming broadcast by a network

17 station, that is owned or operated by, or affili18 ated with, one or more of the television net19 works in the United States which offer an inter20 connected program service on a regular basis

21 for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25

22 of its affiliated television licensees in 10 or

23 more States; or

24 ‘‘(B) any noncommercial educational sta25 tion, as defined in section 111(f) of this title,
8

S 1485 ES

1 that is a member of the public broadcasting

2 service.’’; and

3 (B) in paragraph (6) by inserting ‘‘and op4 erates in the Fixed Satellite Service under part

5 25 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regula6 tions or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service

7 under part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Fed8 eral Regulations,’’ after ‘‘Commission,’’.

9 SEC. 3. CABLE COMPULSORY LICENSE.

10 Section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code, is

11 amended—

12 (1) in the paragraph relating to the definition

13 of ‘‘cable system’’ by striking out ‘‘wires, cables’’

14 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘wires, microwave, ca15 bles’’; and

16 (2) in the paragraph relating to the definition

17 of ‘‘local service area of a primary transmitter’’—

18 (A) by striking out ‘‘comprises the area’’

19 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘comprises either

20 the area’’; and

21 (B) by inserting after ‘‘April 15, 1976,’’

22 the following: ‘‘or such station’s television mar23 ket as defined in section 76.55(e) of title 47,

24 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on

25 September 18, 1993), or any subsequent modi-
9

S 1485 ES

1 fications to such television market made pursu2 ant to section 76.55(e) or 76.59 of title 47 of

3 the Code of Federal Regulations,’’.

4 SEC. 4. TERMINATION.

5 (a) EXPIRATION OF AMENDMENTS.—Section 119 of

6 title 17, United States Code, as amended by section 2 of

7 this Act, ceases to be effective on December 31, 1999.

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

9 Section 207 of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988 (17

10 U.S.C. 119 note) is repealed.

11 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub13 section (b), the provisions of this Act and amendments

14 made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enact15 ment of this Act.

16 (b) BURDEN OF PROOF PROVISIONS.—The provi17 sions of section 119(a)(5)(D) of title 17, United States

18 Code, (as added by section 2(2)(B) of this Act) relating

19 to the burden of proof of satellite carriers, shall take effect

20 on January 1, 1997, with respect to civil actions relating

21 to the eligibility of subscribers who subscribed to service
10

S 1485 ES

1 as an unserved household before the date of the enactment

2 of this Act.

Passed the Senate May 18 (legislative day, May 16),

1994.

Attest:

Secretary.
11

S 1485 ES

S 1485 ES——2

S 1485 ES——3

S 1485 ES——4

S 1485 ES——5