I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1554

To amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code, and the Communications Act of 1934, relating to copyright licensing and carriage of broadcast signals by satellite.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 26, 1999

Mr. COBLE (for himself, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. HYDE,

Mr. BLILEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr.

OXLEY, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. RUSH, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.

WEXLER, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. CANNON, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. MCCOLLUM,

Mr. SAWYER, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. UPTON, Mr. ROGAN, Mr. GILLMOR,

Mr. PEASE, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. JENKINS, and Mr. HILLEARY) introduced

the following bill; Title I, referred to the Committee on Commerce; Title

II, referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the provisions of title 17, United States Code,

and the Communications Act of 1934, relating to copyright licensing and carriage of broadcast signals by satellite.

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 Copyright,

5 Competition, and Consumer Protection Act of 1999’’.
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1 TITLE I—SATELLITE COMPETI2 TION AND CONSUMER PRO3 TECTION

4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Competition

6 and Consumer Protection Act’’.

7 SEC. 102. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

8 Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934

9 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—

10 (1) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) to

11 read as follows:

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

13 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

14 television broadcast station, or any part thereof, except—

15 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the origi16 nating station;

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

18 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

19 to assert the right to carriage under such section; or

20 ‘‘(C) pursuant to section 338, in the case of a

21 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

22 to assert the right to carriage under such section.

23 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not

24 apply—
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1 ‘‘(A) to retransmission of the signal of a non2 commercial television broadcast station;

3 ‘‘(B) to retransmission of the signal of a tele4 vision broadcast station outside the station’s local

5 market by a satellite carrier directly to its sub6 scribers, if—

7 ‘‘(i) such station was a superstation on

8 May 1, 1991;

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

10 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

11 statutory license of section 119 of title 17,

12 United States Code; and

13 ‘‘(iii) the satellite carrier complies with all

14 network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity,

15 and sports blackout rules adopted by the Com16 mission pursuant to section 712 of this Act;

17 ‘‘(C) until 7 months after the date of enactment

18 of the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protec19 tion Act, to retransmission of the signal of a tele20 vision network station directly to a satellite antenna,

21 if the subscriber receiving the signal is located in an

22 area outside the local market of such station; or

23 ‘‘(D) to retransmission by a cable operator or

24 other multichannel video provider, other than a sat25 ellite carrier, of the signal of a television broadcast
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1 station outside the station’s local market if such sig2 nal was obtained from a satellite carrier and—

3 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta4 tion on May 1, 1991; and

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

6 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

7 statutory license of section 119 of title 17,

8 United States Code.’’;

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

10 following new subparagraph:

11 ‘‘(C) Within 45 days after the date of enactment of

12 the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act,

13 the Commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding

14 to revise the regulations governing the exercise by tele15 vision broadcast stations of the right to grant retrans16 mission consent under this subsection, and such other reg17 ulations as are necessary to administer the limitations

18 contained in paragraph (2). The Commission shall com19 plete all actions necessary to prescribe such regulations

20 within one year after such date of enactment. Such regula21 tions shall—

22 ‘‘(i) establish election time periods that cor23 respond with those regulations adopted under sub24 paragraph (B) of this paragraph; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) until January 1, 2006, prohibit television

2 broadcast stations that provide retransmission con3 sent from engaging in discriminatory practices, un4 derstandings, arrangements, and activities, including

5 exclusive contracts for carriage, that prevent a mul6 tichannel video programming distributor from ob7 taining retransmission consent from such stations.’’;

8 (3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the

9 following new sentence: ‘‘If an originating television

10 station elects under paragraph (3)(C) to exercise its

11 right to grant retransmission consent under this

12 subsection with respect to a satellite carrier, the pro13 visions of section 338 shall not apply to the carriage

14 of the signal of such station by such satellite car15 rier.’’;

16 (4) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘614 or 615’’

17 and inserting ‘‘338, 614, or 615’’; and

18 (5) by adding at the end the following new

19 paragraph:

20 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘tele21 vision broadcast station’ means an over-the-air commercial

22 or noncommercial television broadcast station licensed by

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

24 Code of Federal Regulations, except that such term does

25 not include a low-power or translator television station.’’.
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1 SEC. 103. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE2 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG3 NALS.

4 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is

5 amended by inserting after section 337 (47 U.S.C. 337)

6 the following new section:

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

8 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

9 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the limitations

11 of paragraph (2), each satellite carrier providing sec12 ondary transmissions to subscribers located within

13 the local market of a television broadcast station of

14 a primary transmission made by that station shall

15 carry upon request all television broadcast stations

16 located within that local market, subject to section

17 325(b), by retransmitting the signal or signals of

18 such stations that are identified by Commission reg19 ulations for purposes of this section.

20 ‘‘(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—No satellite carrier

21 shall be required to carry local television broadcast

22 stations under paragraph (1) until January 1, 2002.

23 ‘‘(b) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—

24 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—A television broadcast station as25 serting its right to carriage under subsection (a)

26 shall be required to bear the costs associated with
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1 delivering a good quality signal to the designated

2 local receive facility of the satellite carrier or to an3 other facility that is acceptable to at least one-half

4 the stations asserting the right to carriage in the

5 local market.

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

7 under subsection (g) shall set forth the obligations

8 necessary to carry out this subsection.

9 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—

10 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL STATIONS.—Notwithstanding

11 subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be re12 quired to carry upon request the signal of any local

13 commercial television broadcast station that substan14 tially duplicates the signal of another local commer15 cial television broadcast station which is secondarily

16 transmitted by the satellite carrier within the same

17 local market, or to carry upon request the signals of

18 more than 1 local commercial television broadcast

19 station in a single local market that is affiliated with

20 a particular television network.

21 ‘‘(2) NONCOMMERCIAL STATIONS.—The Com22 mission shall prescribe regulations limiting the car23 riage requirements under subsection (a) of satellite

24 carriers with respect to the carriage of multiple local

25 noncommercial television broadcast stations. To the
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1 extent possible, such regulations shall provide the

2 same degree of carriage by satellite carriers of such

3 multiple stations as is provided by cable systems

4 under section 615.

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

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

7 broadcast station to subscribers in that station’s local

8 market on any particular channel number or to provide

9 the signals in any particular order, except that the satellite

10 carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local television

11 broadcast stations to subscribers in the stations’ local

12 market on contiguous channels and provide access to such

13 station’s signals at a nondiscriminatory price and in a

14 nondiscriminatory manner on any navigational device, on15 screen program guide, or menu.

16 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION FOR CARRIAGE.—A satellite

17 carrier shall not accept or request monetary payment or

18 other valuable consideration in exchange either for car19 riage of local television broadcast stations in fulfillment

20 of the requirements of this section or for channel posi21 tioning rights provided to such stations under this section,

22 except that any such station may be required to bear the

23 costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to

24 the local receive facility of the satellite carrier.

25 ‘‘(f) REMEDIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) COMPLAINTS BY BROADCAST STATIONS.—

2 Whenever a local television broadcast station believes

3 that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga4 tions under this section, such station shall notify the

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

6 its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier is

7 obligated to carry upon request the signal of such

8 station or has otherwise failed to comply with other

9 requirements of this section. The satellite carrier

10 shall, within 30 days of such written notification, re11 spond in writing to such notification and either

12 begin carrying the signal of such station in accord13 ance with the terms requested or state its reasons

14 for believing that it is not obligated to carry such

15 signal or is in compliance with other requirements of

16 this section, as the case may be. A local television

17 broadcast station that is denied carriage in accord18 ance with this section by a satellite carrier or is oth19 erwise harmed by a response by a satellite carrier

20 that it is in compliance with other requirements of

21 this section may obtain review of such denial or re22 sponse by filing a complaint with the Commission.

23 Such complaint shall allege the manner in which

24 such satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga25 tions and the basis for such allegations.
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1 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Com2 mission shall afford the satellite carrier against

3 which a complaint is filed under paragraph (1) an

4 opportunity to present data and arguments to estab5 lish that there has been no failure to meet its obliga6 tions under this section.

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

8 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under

9 paragraph (1), the Commission shall determine

10 whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations

11 under this chapter. If the Commission determines

12 that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obli13 gations, the Commission shall order the satellite car14 rier, in the case of an obligation to carry a station,

15 to begin carriage of the station and to continue such

16 carriage for at least 12 months, or, in the case of

17 the failure to meet other obligations under this sec18 tion, shall take other appropriate remedial action. If

19 the Commission determines that the satellite carrier

20 has fully met the requirements of this chapter, the

21 Commission shall dismiss the complaint.

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

23 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Com24 mission shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue

25 regulations implementing this section.
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1 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:

2 ‘‘(1) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’

3 means a person that receives a secondary trans4 mission service by means of a secondary trans5 mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv6 ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or

7 to a distributor.

8 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distributor’

9 means an entity which contracts to distribute sec10 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei11 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

12 programming, provides the secondary transmission

13 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

14 through other program distribution entities.

15 ‘‘(3) LOCAL RECEIVE FACILITY.—The term

16 ‘local receive facility’ means the reception point in

17 each local market which a satellite carrier designates

18 for delivery of the signal of the station for purposes

19 of retransmission.

20 ‘‘(4) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

21 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

22 given such term in section 325(b)(7).

23 ‘‘(5) SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The term

24 ‘secondary transmission’ has the meaning given such
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1 term in section 119(d) of title 17, United States

2 Code.’’.

3 SEC. 104. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD4 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

5 Section 712 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

6 U.S.C. 612) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘SEC. 712. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD8 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

9 ‘‘(a) EXTENSION OF NETWORK NONDUPLICATION,

10 SYNDICATED EXCLUSIVITY, AND SPORTS BLACKOUT TO

11 SATELLITE RETRANSMISSION.—Within 45 days after the

12 date of enactment of the Satellite Competition and Con13 sumer Protection Act, the Commission shall commence a

14 single rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations that

15 apply network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclu16 sivity protection, and sports blackout protection to the re17 transmission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers to

18 subscribers. To the extent possible consistent with sub19 section (b), such regulations shall provide the same degree

20 of protection against retransmission of broadcast signals

21 as is provided by the network nonduplication (47 C.F.R.

22 76.92), syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 151), and sports

23 blackout (47 C.F.R. 76.67) rules applicable to cable tele24 vision systems. The Commission shall complete all actions

25 necessary to prescribe regulations required by this section
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1 so that the regulations shall become effective within 1 year

2 after such date of enactment.

3 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK NONDUPLICA4 TION BOUNDARIES.—

5 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SIGNAL STANDARD

6 FOR NETWORK NONDUPLICATION REQUIRED.—The

7 Commission shall establish a signal intensity stand8 ard for purposes of determining the network non9 duplication rights of local television broadcast sta10 tions. Until revised pursuant to subsection (c), such

11 standard shall be the Grade B field strength stand12 ard prescribed by the Commission in section 73.683

13 of the Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 73.683).

14 For purposes of this section, the standard estab15 lished under this paragraph is referred to as the

16 ‘Network Nonduplication Signal Standard’.

17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVED PRE18 DICTIVE MODEL REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after

19 the date of enactment of the Satellite Competition

20 and Consumer Protection Act, the Commission shall

21 take all actions necessary, including any reconsider22 ation, to develop and prescribe by rule a point-to23 point predictive model for reliably and presumptively

24 determining the ability of individual locations to re25 ceive signals in accordance with the Network Non-
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1 duplication Signal Standard. In prescribing such

2 model, the Commission shall ensure that such model

3 takes into account terrain, building structures, and

4 other land cover variations. The Commission shall

5 establish procedures for the continued refinement in

6 the application of the model by the use of additional

7 data as it becomes available. For purposes of this

8 section, such model is referred to as the ‘Network

9 Nonduplication Reception Model’, and the area en10 compassing locations that are predicted to have the

11 ability to receive such a signal of a particular broad12 cast station is referred to as that station’s ‘Recep13 tion Model Area’.

14 ‘‘(3) NETWORK NONDUPLICATION.—The net15 work nonduplication regulations required under sub16 section (a) shall allow a television network station to

17 assert nonduplication rights as follows:

18 ‘‘(A) If a satellite carrier is retransmitting

19 that station, or any other television broadcast

20 stations located in the same local market, to

21 subscribers located in that station’s local mar22 ket, the television network station may assert

23 nonduplication rights against the satellite car24 rier throughout the area within which that sta25 tion may assert such rights under the rules ap-
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1 plicable to cable television systems (47 C.F.R.

2 76.92).

3 ‘‘(B) If a satellite carrier is not retransmit4 ting any television broadcast stations located in

5 the television network station’s local market to

6 subscribers located in such market, the tele7 vision network station may assert nonduplica8 tion rights against the satellite carrier in the

9 geographic area that is within such station’s

10 Reception Model Area, but such geographic

11 area shall not extend beyond the local market

12 of such station.

13 ‘‘(4) WAIVERS.—A subscriber may request a

14 waiver from network nonduplication by submitting a

15 request, through such subscriber’s satellite carrier,

16 to the television network station asserting non17 duplication rights. The television network station

18 shall accept or reject a subscriber’s request for a

19 waiver within 30 days after receipt of the request.

20 The network nonduplication protection described in

21 paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply to a subscriber if

22 such station agrees to the waiver request and files

23 with the satellite carrier a written waiver with re24 spect to that subscriber allowing the subscriber to

25 receive satellite retransmission of another network
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1 station affiliated with that same network. The tele2 vision network station and the satellite carrier shall

3 maintain a file available to the public that contains

4 such waiver requests and the acceptances and rejec5 tions thereof.

6 ‘‘(5) OBJECTIVE VERIFICATION.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a subscriber’s re8 quest for a waiver under paragraph (4) is re9 jected and the subscriber submits to the sub10 scriber’s satellite carrier a request for a test

11 verifying the subscriber’s inability to receive a

12 signal that meets the Network Nonduplication

13 Signal Standard, the satellite carrier and the

14 television network station or stations asserting

15 nonduplication rights with respect to that sub16 scriber shall select a qualified and independent

17 person to conduct a test in accordance with the

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

19 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regula20 tion. Such test shall be conducted within 30

21 days after the date the subscriber submits a re22 quest for the test. If the written findings and

23 conclusions of a test conducted in accordance

24 with the provisions of such section (or any suc25 cessor regulation) demonstrate that the sub-
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1 scriber does not receive a signal that meets or

2 exceeds the Network Nonduplication Signal

3 Standard, the network nonduplication rights de4 scribed in paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply to

5 that subscriber.

6 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF TESTOR AND ALLO7 CATION OF COSTS.—If the satellite carrier and

8 the television network station or stations assert9 ing nonduplication rights are unable to agree on

10 such a person to conduct the test, the person

11 shall be designated by an independent and neu12 tral entity designated by the Commission by

13 rule. Unless the satellite carrier and the tele14 vision network station or stations asserting non15 duplication rights otherwise agree, the costs of

16 conducting the test under this paragraph shall

17 be borne equally by the satellite carrier and the

18 television network station or stations asserting

19 nonduplication rights. A subscriber may not be

20 required to bear any portion of the cost of such

21 test.

22 ‘‘(6) RECREATIONAL VEHICLE LOCATION.—In

23 the case of a subscriber to a satellite carrier who has

24 installed satellite reception equipment in a rec25 reational vehicle, and who has permitted any tele-
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1 vision network station seeking to assert network

2 nonduplication rights to verify the motor vehicle reg3 istration, license, and proof of ownership of such ve4 hicle, the subscriber shall be considered to be outside

5 the local market and Reception Model Area of such

6 station. For purposes of this paragraph, the term

7 ‘recreational vehicle’ does not include any residential

8 manufactured home, as defined in section 603(6) of

9 the National Manufactured Housing Construction

10 and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.

11 5402(6)).

12 ‘‘(c) REVIEW AND REVISION OF STANDARDS AND

13 MODEL.—

14 ‘‘(1) ONGOING INQUIRY REQUIRED.—Not later

15 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Sat16 ellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the

17 Commission shall conduct an inquiry of the extent to

18 which the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,

19 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and

20 the Reception Model Areas of television stations are

21 adequate to reliably measure the ability of con22 sumers to receive an acceptable over-the-air tele23 vision broadcast signal.
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1 ‘‘(2) DATA TO BE CONSIDERED.—In conducting

2 the inquiry required by paragraph (1), the Commis3 sion shall consider—

4 ‘‘(A) the number of subscribers requesting

5 waivers under subsection (b)(4), and the num6 ber of waivers that are denied;

7 ‘‘(B) the number of subscribers submitting

8 petitions under subsection (b)(5), and the num9 ber of such petitions that are granted;

10 ‘‘(C) the results of any consumer research

11 study that may be undertaken to carry out the

12 purposes of this section; and

13 ‘‘(D) the extent to which consumers are

14 not legally entitled to install broadcast reception

15 devices assumed in the Commission’s standard.

16 ‘‘(3) REPORT AND ACTION.—The Commission

17 shall submit to the Congress a report on the inquiry

18 required by this subsection not later than the end of

19 the 2-year period described in paragraph (1). The

20 Commission shall complete any actions necessary to

21 revise the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,

22 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and

23 the Reception Model Areas of television stations in

24 accordance with the findings of such inquiry not
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1 later than 6 months after the end of such 2-year pe2 riod.

3 ‘‘(4) DATA SUBMISSION.—The Commission

4 shall prescribe by rule the data required to be sub5 mitted by television broadcast stations and by sat6 ellite carriers to the Commission or such designated

7 entity to carry out this subsection, and the format

8 for submission of such data.’’.

9 SEC. 105. CONSENT OF MEMBERSHIP TO RETRANSMISSION

10 OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT11 ELLITE FEED.

12 Section 396 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

13 U.S.C. 396) is amended by adding at the end the following

14 new subsection:

15 ‘‘(n) The Public Broadcasting Service shall certify to

16 the Board on an annual basis that a majority of its mem17 bership supports or does not support the secondary trans18 mission of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed,

19 and provide notice to each satellite carrier carrying such

20 feed of such certification.’’.

21 SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.

22 Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

23 U.S.C. 153) is amended—

24 (1) by redesignating—
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1 (A) paragraphs (49) through (52) as para2 graphs (52) through (55), respectively;

3 (B) paragraphs (39) through (48) as para4 graphs (41) through (50), respectively; and

5 (C) paragraphs (27) through (38) as para6 graph (28) through (39), respectively;

7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (26) the fol8 lowing new paragraph:

9 ‘‘(27) LOCAL MARKET.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘local mar11 ket’, in the case of both commercial and non12 commercial television broadcast stations, means

13 the designated market area in which a station

14 is located, and—

15 ‘‘(i) in the case of a commercial tele16 vision broadcast station, all commercial tel17 evision broadcast stations licensed to a

18 community within the same designated

19 market area are within the same local mar20 ket; and

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a noncommercial

22 educational television broadcast station,

23 the market includes any station that is li24 censed to a community within the same

25 designated market area as the noncommer-
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1 cial educational television broadcast sta2 tion.

3 ‘‘(B) COUNTY OF LICENSE.—In addition to

4 the area described in subparagraph (A), a sta5 tion’s local market includes the county in which

6 the station’s community of license is located.

7 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—For

8 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘des9 ignated market area’ means a designated mar10 ket area, as determined by Nielsen Media Re11 search and published in the DMA Market and

12 Demographic Report.’’;

13 (3) by inserting after paragraph (39) (as redes14 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol15 lowing new paragraph:

16 ‘‘(40) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘sat17 ellite carrier’ means an entity that uses the facilities

18 of a satellite or satellite service licensed by the Com19 mission, and operates in the Fixed-Satellite Service

20 under part 25 of title 47 of the Code of Federal

21 Regulations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service

22 under part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal

23 Regulations, to establish and operate a channel of

24 communications for point-to-multipoint distribution

25 of television station signals, and that owns or leases
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1 a capacity or service on a satellite in order to pro2 vide such point-to-multipoint distribution, except to

3 the extent that such entity provides such distribution

4 pursuant to tariff under this Act.’’; and

5 (3) by inserting after paragraph (50) (as redes6 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol7 lowing new paragraph:

8 ‘‘(51) TELEVISION NETWORK; TELEVISION NET9 WORK STATION.—

10 ‘‘(A) TELEVISION NETWORK.—The term

11 ‘television network’ means a television network

12 in the United States which offers an inter13 connected program service on a regular basis

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

15 affiliated broadcast stations in 10 or more

16 States.

17 ‘‘(B) TELEVISION NETWORK STATION.—

18 The term ‘television network station’ means a

19 television broadcast station that is owned or op20 erated by, or affiliated with, a television net21 work.’’.

22 SEC. 107. COMPLETION OF BIENNIAL REGULATORY RE23 VIEW.

24 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this

25 Act, the Commission shall complete the biennial review re-
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1 quired by section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act

2 of 1996.

3 SEC. 108. RESULT OF LOSS OF NETWORK SERVICE.

4 Until the Federal Communications Commission

5 issues regulations under section 712(b)(2) of the Commu6 nications Act of 1934, if a subscriber’s network service

7 is terminated as a result of the provisions of section 119

8 of title 17, United States Code, the satellite carrier shall,

9 upon the request of the subscriber, provide to the sub10 scriber free of charge an over-the-air television broadcast

11 receiving antenna that will provide the subscriber with an

12 over-the-air signal of Grade B intensity for those network

13 stations that were terminated as a result of such section

14 119.

15 SEC. 109. INTERIM PROVISIONS.

16 Until the Federal Communications Commission

17 issues and implements regulations under section 712(b)(2)

18 of the Communications Act of 1934, no subscriber whose

19 household is located outside the Grade A contour of a net20 work station shall have his or her satellite service of an21 other network station affiliated with that same network

22 terminated as a result of the provisions of section 119 of

23 title 17, United States Code.
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1 TITLE II—SECONDARY TRANS2 MISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR3 RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MAR4 KETS

5 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Copyright

7 Compulsory License Improvement Act’’.

8 SEC. 202. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SEC9 ONDARY TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR10 RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.

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

12 States Code, is amended by adding after section 121 the

13 following new section:

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

15 transmissions by satellite carriers within

16 local markets

17 ‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION

18 BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec19 ondary transmission of a primary transmission of a tele20 vision broadcast station into the station’s local market

21 shall be subject to statutory licensing under this section

22 if—

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

24 satellite carrier to the public;
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1 ‘‘(2) the satellite carrier is in compliance with

2 the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the Fed3 eral Communications Commission governing the car4 riage of television broadcast station signals; and

5 ‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi6 rect charge for the secondary transmission to—

7 ‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the sec8 ondary transmission; or

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

10 the satellite carrier for direct or indirect deliv11 ery of the secondary transmission to the public.

12 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

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

14 makes secondary transmissions of a primary trans15 mission made by a network station under subsection

16 (a) shall, within 90 days after commencing such sec17 ondary transmissions, submit to the network that

18 owns or is affiliated with the network station a list

19 identifying (by name in alphabetical order and street

20 address, including county and zip code) all sub21 scribers to which the satellite carrier currently

22 makes secondary transmissions of that primary

23 transmission pursuant to this section.

24 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub25 mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier
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1 shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the net2 work a list identifying (by name in alphabetical

3 order and street address, including county and zip

4 code) any subscribers who have been added or

5 dropped as subscribers since the last submission

6 under this subsection.

7 ‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub8 scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier

9 under this subsection may be used only for the pur10 poses of monitoring compliance by the satellite car11 rier with this section.

12 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS OF STATIONS.—The sub13 mission requirements of this subsection shall apply

14 to a satellite carrier only if the network to which the

15 submissions are to be made places on file with the

16 Register of Copyrights a document identifying the

17 name and address of the person to whom such sub18 missions are to be made. The Register shall main19 tain for public inspection a file of all such docu20 ments.

21 ‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite car22 rier whose secondary transmissions are subject to statu23 tory licensing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty

24 obligation for such secondary transmissions.
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1 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING AND REGU2 LATORY REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection

3 (a), the willful or repeated secondary transmission to the

4 public by a satellite carrier into the local market of a tele5 vision broadcast station of a primary transmission made

6 by that television broadcast station and embodying a per7 formance or display of a work is actionable as an act of

8 infringement under section 501, and is fully subject to the

9 remedies provided under sections 502 through 506 and

10 509, if the satellite carrier has not complied with the re11 porting requirements of subsection (b) or with the rules,

12 regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Commu13 nications Commission concerning the carriage of television

14 broadcast signals.

15 ‘‘(e) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding

16 subsection (a), the secondary transmission to the public

17 by a satellite carrier into the local market of a television

18 broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that

19 television broadcast station and embodying a performance

20 or display of a work is actionable as an act of infringement

21 under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies pro22 vided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and

23 510, if the content of the particular program in which the

24 performance or display is embodied, or any commercial ad25 vertising or station announcement transmitted by the pri-
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1 mary transmitter during, or immediately before or after,

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

3 altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions,

4 or additions, or is combined with programming from any

5 other broadcast signal.

6 ‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS ON

7 STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION BROADCAST STA8 TIONS.—

9 ‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—The willful or

10 repeated secondary transmission to the public by a

11 satellite carrier of a primary transmission made by

12 a television broadcast station and embodying a per13 formance or display of a work to a subscriber who

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

15 not subject to statutory licensing under section 119,

16 or a private licensing agreement, is actionable as an

17 act of infringement under section 501 and is fully

18 subject to the remedies provided by sections 502

19 through 506 and 509, except that—

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

21 act of infringement if the satellite carrier took

22 corrective action by promptly withdrawing serv23 ice from the ineligible subscriber; and
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1 ‘‘(B) any statutory damages shall not ex2 ceed $5 for such subscriber for each month dur3 ing which the violation occurred.

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

5 carrier engages in a willful or repeated pattern or

6 practice of secondarily transmitting to the public a

7 primary transmission made by a television broadcast

8 station and embodying a performance or display of

9 a work to subscribers who do not reside in that sta10 tion’s local market, and are not subject to statutory

11 licensing under section 119, then in addition to the

12 remedies under paragraph (1)—

13 ‘‘(A) if the pattern or practice has been

14 carried out on a substantially nationwide basis,

15 the court shall order a permanent injunction

16 barring the secondary transmission by the sat17 ellite carrier of the primary transmissions of

18 that television broadcast station (and if such

19 television broadcast station is a network sta20 tion, all other television broadcast stations af21 filiated with such network), and the court may

22 order statutory damages not exceeding

23 $250,000 for each 6-month period during which

24 the pattern or practice was carried out; and
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1 ‘‘(B) if the pattern or practice has been

2 carried out on a local or regional basis with re3 spect to more than one television broadcast sta4 tion (and if such television broadcast station is

5 a network station, all other television broadcast

6 stations affiliated with such network), the court

7 shall order a permanent injunction barring the

8 secondary transmission in that locality or re9 gion by the satellite carrier of the primary

10 transmissions of any television broadcast sta11 tion, and the court may order statutory dam12 ages not exceeding $250,000 for each 6-month

13 period during which the pattern or practice was

14 carried out.

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

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

17 have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission

18 of a primary transmission by a television broadcast station

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

20 local market or subscribers being served in compliance

21 with section 119.

22 ‘‘(h) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATIONS ON SECONDARY

23 TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license created by this

24 section shall apply to secondary transmissions to locations
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1 in the United States, and any commonwealth, territory,

2 or possession of the United States.

3 ‘‘(i) EXCLUSIVITY WITH RESPECT TO SECONDARY

4 TRANSMISSIONS OF BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE

5 TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—No provision of section

6 111 or any other law (other than this section and section

7 119) shall be construed to contain any authorization, ex8 emption, or license through which secondary transmissions

9 by satellite carriers of programming contained in a pri10 mary transmission made by a television broadcast station

11 may be made without obtaining the consent of the copy12 right owner.

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

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

15 means an entity which contracts to distribute sec16 ondary transmissions from a satellite carrier and, ei17 ther as a single channel or in a package with other

18 programming, provides the secondary transmission

19 either directly to individual subscribers or indirectly

20 through other program distribution entities.

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

22 television broadcast station has the meaning given

23 that term under section 3 of the Communications

24 Act of 1934.
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1 ‘‘(3) NETWORK STATION; SATELLITE CARRIER;

2 SECONDARY TRANSMISSION.—The terms ‘network

3 station’, ‘satellite carrier’ and ‘secondary trans4 mission’ have the meanings given such terms under

5 section 119(d).

6 ‘‘(4) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’

7 means a person that receives a secondary trans8 mission service by means of a secondary trans9 mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv10 ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or

11 to a distributor.

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

13 term ‘television broadcast station’ means an over14 the-air, commercial or noncommercial television

15 broadcast station licensed by the Federal Commu16 nications Commission under subpart E of part 73 of

17 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.’’.

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

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

20 end the following new subsection:

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

22 is made by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission

23 embodying the performance or display of a work and is

24 actionable as an act of infringement under section 122,

25 a television broadcast station holding a copyright or other
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1 license to transmit or perform the same version of that

2 work shall, for purposes of subsection (b) of this section,

3 be treated as a legal or beneficial owner if such secondary

4 transmission occurs within the local market of that sta5 tion.’’.

6 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

7 The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating

9 to section 121 the following:

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

10 SEC. 203. EXTENSION OF EFFECT OF AMENDMENTS TO SEC11 TION 119 OF TITLE 17, UNITED STATES CODE.

12 Section 4(a) of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of

13 1994 (17 U.S.C. 119 note; Public Law 103–369; 108

14 Stat. 3481) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 1999’’

15 and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2004’’.

16 SEC. 204. COMPUTATION OF ROYALTY FEES FOR SAT17 ELLITE CARRIERS.

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

19 amended by adding at the end the following new para20 graph:

21 ‘‘(4) REDUCTION.—

22 ‘‘(A) SUPERSTATION.—The rate of the

23 royalty fee in effect on January 1, 1998, pay-
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1 able in each case under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i)

2 shall be reduced by 30 percent.

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

4 fee in effect on January 1, 1998, payable under

5 subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii) shall be reduced by 45

6 percent.

7 ‘‘(5) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE AS

8 AGENT.—For purposes of section 802, with respect

9 to royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for re10 transmitting the Public Broadcasting Service sat11 ellite feed, the Public Broadcasting Service shall be

12 the agent for all public television copyright claimants

13 and all Public Broadcasting Service member sta14 tions.’’.

15 SEC. 205. PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SATELLITE

16 FEED; DEFINITIONS.

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

18 of title 17, United States Code, is amended—

19 (1) by striking the paragraph heading and in20 serting ‘‘(1) SUPERSTATIONS AND PBS SATELLITE

21 FEED.—’’;

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

23 Service satellite feed’’ after ‘‘superstation’’; and
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1 (3) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In the

2 case of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite

3 feed, subsequent to—

4 ‘‘(A) the date when a majority of sub5 scribers to satellite carriers are able to receive

6 the signal of at least one noncommercial edu7 cational television broadcast station from their

8 satellite carrier within such stations’ local mar9 ket, or

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

11 Satellite Copyright Compulsory License Im12 provement Act,

13 whichever is earlier, the statutory license created by

14 this section shall be conditioned on certification of

15 support pursuant to section 396(n) of the Commu16 nications Act of 1934.’’.

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

18 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(12) PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT21 ELLITE FEED.—The term ‘Public Broadcasting

22 Service satellite feed’ means the national satellite

23 feed distributed by the Public Broadcasting Service

24 consisting of educational and informational program25 ming intended for private home viewing, to which
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1 the Public Broadcasting Service holds national ter2 restrial broadcast rights.

3 ‘‘(13) LOCAL MARKET.—The term ‘local mar4 ket’ has the meaning given that term in section

5 122(j)(2).

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

7 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

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

9 SEC. 206. DISTANT SIGNAL RETRANSMISSIONS.

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

11 amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a)—

13 (A) in paragraph (2)—

14 (i) by striking subparagraph (B) and

15 inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(B) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF NET17 WORK STATIONS.—The statutory license pro18 vided for in subparagraph (A) shall be limited

19 to secondary transmissions to persons who are

20 unable to receive a signal of the intensity speci21 fied as the Network Nonduplication Signal

22 Standard pursuant to section 712(b) of the

23 Communications Act of 1934.’’;

24 (ii) in paragraph (5)—
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1 (I) in subparagraph (A) by strik2 ing ‘‘an unserved household’’ and in3 serting ‘‘a household permitted to re4 ceive the secondary transmission

5 under paragraph (2)(B).’’;

6 (II) in subparagraph (B) by

7 striking ‘‘unserved households’’ and

8 inserting ‘‘households permitted to re9 ceive the secondary transmission

10 under paragraph (2)(B).’’; and

11 (III) in subparagraph (D) by

12 striking ‘‘to an unserved household’’

13 and inserting ‘‘to a household per14 mitted to receive the secondary trans15 mission under paragraph (2)(B).’’;

16 and

17 (B) by striking paragraph (8) and redesig18 nating paragraphs (9) and (10) as paragraphs

19 (8) and (9), respectively; and

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

21 (10) and (11).

22 SEC. 207. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

23 COMMISSION REGULATIONS.

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

25 amended—
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1 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘the satellite

2 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

3 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

4 Commission governing the carriage of television

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

6 the public for private home viewing,’’;

7 (2) in paragraph (2), 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 (3) by adding at the end the following new

14 paragraph:

15 ‘‘(10) STATUTORY LICENSE CONTINGENT ON

16 COMPLIANCE WITH FCC RULES AND REMEDIAL

17 STEPS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this

18 section, the willful or repeated secondary trans19 mission to the public by a satellite carrier of a pri20 mary transmission made by a broadcast station li21 censed by the Federal Communications Commission

22 is actionable as an act of infringement under section

23 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided by

24 sections 502 through 506 and 509, if, at the time

25 of such transmission, the satellite carrier is not in
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1 compliance with the rules, regulations, and author2 izations of the Federal Communications Commission

3 concerning the carriage of television broadcast sta4 tion signals.’’.

5 SEC. 208. STUDY ON TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

6 OF MUST-CARRY ON DELIVERY OF LOCAL

7 SIGNALS.

8 Not later than July 1, 2000, the Register of Copy9 rights and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com10 munications and Information shall submit to the Congress

11 a joint report that sets forth in detail their findings and

12 conclusions with respect to the following:

13 (1) The availability of local television broadcast

14 signals in small and rural markets as part of a serv15 ice that competes with, or supplements, video pro16 gramming containing copyrighted material delivered

17 by satellite carriers or cable operators.

18 (2) The technical feasibility of imposing the re19 quirements of section 338 of the Communications

20 Act of 1934 on satellite carriers that deliver local

21 broadcast station signals containing copyrighted ma22 terial pursuant to section 122 of title 17, United

23 States Code, and the technical and economic impact

24 of section 338 of the Communications Act of 1934

25 on the ability of satellite carriers to serve multiple
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1 television markets with retransmission of local tele2 vision broadcast stations, with particular consider3 ation given to the ability to serve television markets

4 other than the 100 largest television markets in the

5 United States (as determined by the Nielson Media

6 Research and published in the DMA market and De7 mographic Report).

8 (3) The technological capability of dual satellite

9 dish technology to receive effectively over-the-air

10 broadcast transmissions containing copyrighted ma11 terial from the local market, the availability of such

12 capability in small and rural markets, and the af13 fordability of such capability.

14 (4) The technological capability (including in15 terference), availability, and affordability of wireless

16 cable (or terrestrial wireless) delivery of local broad17 cast station signals containing copyrighted material

18 pursuant to section 111 of title 17, United States

19 Code, including the feasibility and desirability of the

20 expedited licensing of such competitive wireless tech21 nologies for rural and small markets.

22 (5) The technological capability, availability,

23 and affordability of a broadcast-only basic tier of

24 cable service.
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1 SEC. 209. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This title and the amendments made by this title

3 shall take effect on July 1, 1999, except that section 208

4 and the amendments made by section 205 shall take effect

5 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ