106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1554

AN ACT

To amend the provisions of title 17, United States

broadcast signals by satellite.lating to copyright licensing and carriage ofCode, and the Communications Act of 1934, re-
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1554

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Copyright,

3 Competition, and Consumer Protection Act of 1999’’.

4 TITLE I—SATELLITE COMPETI5 TION AND CONSUMER PRO6 TECTION

7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

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

9 and Consumer Protection Act’’.

10 SEC. 102. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

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

12 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended—

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

14 read as follows:

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

16 programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a

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

18 ‘‘(A) with the express authority of the origi19 nating station;

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

21 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

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

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

24 station electing, in accordance with this subsection,

25 to assert the right to carriage under such section.
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1 ‘‘(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not

2 apply—

3 ‘‘(A) to retransmission of the signal of a non4 commercial television broadcast station;

5 ‘‘(B) to retransmission of the signal of a tele6 vision broadcast station outside the station’s local

7 market by a satellite carrier directly to its sub8 scribers, if—

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

10 May 1, 1991;

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

12 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

13 statutory license of section 119 of title 17,

14 United States Code; and

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

16 network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity,

17 and sports blackout rules adopted by the Com18 mission pursuant to section 712 of this Act;

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

20 of the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protec21 tion Act, to retransmission of the signal of a tele22 vision network station directly to a satellite antenna,

23 if the subscriber receiving the signal is located in an

24 area outside the local market of such station; or
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1 ‘‘(D) to retransmission by a cable operator or

2 other multichannel video provider, other than a sat3 ellite carrier, of the signal of a television broadcast

4 station outside the station’s local market if such sig5 nal was obtained from a satellite carrier and—

6 ‘‘(i) the originating station was a supersta7 tion on May 1, 1991; and

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

9 retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the

10 statutory license of section 119 of title 17,

11 United States Code.’’;

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

13 following new subparagraph:

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

15 the Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act,

16 the Commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding

17 to revise the regulations governing the exercise by tele18 vision broadcast stations of the right to grant retrans19 mission consent under this subsection, and such other reg20 ulations as are necessary to administer the limitations

21 contained in paragraph (2). The Commission shall com22 plete all actions necessary to prescribe such regulations

23 within one year after such date of enactment. Such regula24 tions shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) establish election time periods that cor2 respond with those regulations adopted under sub3 paragraph (B) of this paragraph; and

4 ‘‘(ii) until January 1, 2006, prohibit television

5 broadcast stations that provide retransmission con6 sent from engaging in discriminatory practices, un7 derstandings, arrangements, and activities, including

8 exclusive contracts for carriage, that prevent a mul9 tichannel video programming distributor from ob10 taining retransmission consent from such stations.’’;

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

12 following new sentence: ‘‘If an originating television

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

14 right to grant retransmission consent under this

15 subsection with respect to a satellite carrier, the pro16 visions of section 338 shall not apply to the carriage

17 of the signal of such station by such satellite car18 rier.’’;

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

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

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

22 paragraph:

23 ‘‘(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘tele24 vision broadcast station’ means an over-the-air commercial

25 or noncommercial television broadcast station licensed by
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1 the Commission under subpart E of part 73 of title 47,

2 Code of Federal Regulations, except that such term does

3 not include a low-power or translator television station.’’.

4 SEC. 103. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RE5 TRANSMITTING TELEVISION BROADCAST SIG6 NALS.

7 Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is

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

9 the following new section:

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

11 SATELLITE CARRIERS.

12 ‘‘(a) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—

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

14 of paragraph (2), each satellite carrier providing sec15 ondary transmissions to subscribers located within

16 the local market of a television broadcast station of

17 a primary transmission made by that station shall

18 carry upon request all television broadcast stations

19 located within that local market, subject to section

20 325(b), by retransmitting the signal or signals of

21 such stations that are identified by Commission reg22 ulations for purposes of this section.

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

24 shall be required to carry local television broadcast

25 stations under paragraph (1) until January 1, 2002.
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1 ‘‘(b) GOOD SIGNAL REQUIRED.—

2 ‘‘(1) COSTS.—A television broadcast station as3 serting its right to carriage under subsection (a)

4 shall be required to bear the costs associated with

5 delivering a good quality signal to the designated

6 local receive facility of the satellite carrier or to an7 other facility that is acceptable to at least one-half

8 the stations asserting the right to carriage in the

9 local market.

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

11 under subsection (g) shall set forth the obligations

12 necessary to carry out this subsection.

13 ‘‘(c) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—

14 ‘‘(1) COMMERCIAL STATIONS.—Notwithstanding

15 subsection (a), a satellite carrier shall not be re16 quired to carry upon request the signal of any local

17 commercial television broadcast station that substan18 tially duplicates the signal of another local commer19 cial television broadcast station which is secondarily

20 transmitted by the satellite carrier within the same

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

22 more than 1 local commercial television broadcast

23 station in a single local market that is affiliated with

24 a particular television network.
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1 ‘‘(2) NONCOMMERCIAL STATIONS.—The Com2 mission shall prescribe regulations limiting the car3 riage requirements under subsection (a) of satellite

4 carriers with respect to the carriage of multiple local

5 noncommercial television broadcast stations. To the

6 extent possible, such regulations shall provide the

7 same degree of carriage by satellite carriers of such

8 multiple stations as is provided by cable systems

9 under section 615.

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

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

12 broadcast station to subscribers in that station’s local

13 market on any particular channel number or to provide

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

15 carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local television

16 broadcast stations to subscribers in the stations’ local

17 market on contiguous channels and provide access to such

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

19 nondiscriminatory manner on any navigational device, on20 screen program guide, or menu.

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

22 carrier shall not accept or request monetary payment or

23 other valuable consideration in exchange either for car24 riage of local television broadcast stations in fulfillment

25 of the requirements of this section or for channel posi-
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1 tioning rights provided to such stations under this section,

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

3 costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to

4 the local receive facility of the satellite carrier.

5 ‘‘(f) REMEDIES.—

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

7 Whenever a local television broadcast station believes

8 that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga9 tions under this section, such station shall notify the

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

11 its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier is

12 obligated to carry upon request the signal of such

13 station or has otherwise failed to comply with other

14 requirements of this section. The satellite carrier

15 shall, within 30 days of such written notification, re16 spond in writing to such notification and either

17 begin carrying the signal of such station in accord18 ance with the terms requested or state its reasons

19 for believing that it is not obligated to carry such

20 signal or is in compliance with other requirements of

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

22 broadcast station that is denied carriage in accord23 ance with this section by a satellite carrier or is oth24 erwise harmed by a response by a satellite carrier

25 that it is in compliance with other requirements of
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1 this section may obtain review of such denial or re2 sponse by filing a complaint with the Commission.

3 Such complaint shall allege the manner in which

4 such satellite carrier has failed to meet its obliga5 tions and the basis for such allegations.

6 ‘‘(2) OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND.—The Com7 mission shall afford the satellite carrier against

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

9 opportunity to present data and arguments to estab10 lish that there has been no failure to meet its obliga11 tions under this section.

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

13 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under

14 paragraph (1), the Commission shall determine

15 whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations

16 under this chapter. If the Commission determines

17 that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obli18 gations, the Commission shall order the satellite car19 rier, in the case of an obligation to carry a station,

20 to begin carriage of the station and to continue such

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

22 the failure to meet other obligations under this sec23 tion, shall take other appropriate remedial action. If

24 the Commission determines that the satellite carrier
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1 has fully met the requirements of this chapter, the

2 Commission shall dismiss the complaint.

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

4 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Com5 mission shall, following a rulemaking proceeding, issue

6 regulations implementing this section.

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

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

9 means a person that receives a secondary trans10 mission service by means of a secondary trans11 mission from a satellite and pays a fee for the serv12 ice, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or

13 to a distributor.

14 ‘‘(2) 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 ‘‘(3) LOCAL RECEIVE FACILITY.—The term

22 ‘local receive facility’ means the reception point in

23 each local market which a satellite carrier designates

24 for delivery of the signal of the station for purposes

25 of retransmission.
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1 ‘‘(4) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—The

2 term ‘television broadcast station’ has the meaning

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

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

5 ‘secondary transmission’ has the meaning given such

6 term in section 119(d) of title 17, United States

7 Code.’’.

8 SEC. 104. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD9 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

10 Section 712 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

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

12 ‘‘SEC. 712. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROAD13 CAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.

14 ‘‘(a) EXTENSION OF NETWORK NONDUPLICATION,

15 SYNDICATED EXCLUSIVITY, AND SPORTS BLACKOUT TO

16 SATELLITE RETRANSMISSION.—Within 45 days after the

17 date of enactment of the Satellite Competition and Con18 sumer Protection Act, the Commission shall commence a

19 single rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations that

20 apply network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclu21 sivity protection, and sports blackout protection to the re22 transmission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers to

23 subscribers. To the extent possible consistent with sub24 section (b), such regulations shall provide the same degree

25 of protection against retransmission of broadcast signals
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1 as is provided by the network nonduplication (47 C.F.R.

2 76.92), syndicated exclusivity (47 C.F.R. 151), and sports

3 blackout (47 C.F.R. 76.67) rules applicable to cable tele4 vision systems. The Commission shall complete all actions

5 necessary to prescribe regulations required by this section

6 so that the regulations shall become effective within 1 year

7 after such date of enactment.

8 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF NETWORK NONDUPLICA9 TION BOUNDARIES.—

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF SIGNAL STANDARD

11 FOR NETWORK NONDUPLICATION REQUIRED.—The

12 Commission shall establish a signal intensity stand13 ard for purposes of determining the network non14 duplication rights of local television broadcast sta15 tions. Until revised pursuant to subsection (c), such

16 standard shall be the Grade B field strength stand17 ard prescribed by the Commission in section 73.683

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

19 For purposes of this section, the standard estab20 lished under this paragraph is referred to as the

21 ‘Network Nonduplication Signal Standard’.

22 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPROVED PRE23 DICTIVE MODEL REQUIRED.—Within 180 days after

24 the date of enactment of the Satellite Competition

25 and Consumer Protection Act, the Commission shall
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1 take all actions necessary, including any reconsider2 ation, to develop and prescribe by rule a point-to3 point predictive model for reliably and presumptively

4 determining the ability of individual locations to re5 ceive signals in accordance with the Network Non6 duplication Signal Standard. In prescribing such

7 model, the Commission shall ensure that such model

8 takes into account terrain, building structures, and

9 other land cover variations. The Commission shall

10 establish procedures for the continued refinement in

11 the application of the model by the use of additional

12 data as it becomes available. For purposes of this

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

14 Nonduplication Reception Model’, and the area en15 compassing locations that are predicted to have the

16 ability to receive such a signal of a particular broad17 cast station is referred to as that station’s ‘Recep18 tion Model Area’.

19 ‘‘(3) NETWORK NONDUPLICATION.—The net20 work nonduplication regulations required under sub21 section (a) shall allow a television network station to

22 assert nonduplication rights as follows:

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

24 that station, or any other television broadcast

25 stations located in the same local market, to
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1 subscribers located in that station’s local mar2 ket, the television network station may assert

3 nonduplication rights against the satellite car4 rier throughout the area within which that sta5 tion may assert such rights under the rules ap6 plicable to cable television systems (47 C.F.R.

7 76.92).

8 ‘‘(B) If a satellite carrier is not retransmit9 ting any television broadcast stations located in

10 the television network station’s local market to

11 subscribers located in such market, the tele12 vision network station may assert nonduplica13 tion rights against the satellite carrier in the

14 geographic area that is within such station’s

15 Reception Model Area, but such geographic

16 area shall not extend beyond the local market

17 of such station.

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

19 waiver from network nonduplication by submitting a

20 request, through such subscriber’s satellite carrier,

21 to the television network station asserting non22 duplication rights. The television network station

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

24 waiver within 30 days after receipt of the request.

25 The network nonduplication protection described in
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1 paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply to a subscriber if

2 such station agrees to the waiver request and files

3 with the satellite carrier a written waiver with re4 spect to that subscriber allowing the subscriber to

5 receive satellite retransmission of another network

6 station affiliated with that same network. The tele7 vision network station and the satellite carrier shall

8 maintain a file available to the public that contains

9 such waiver requests and the acceptances and rejec10 tions thereof.

11 ‘‘(5) OBJECTIVE VERIFICATION.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a subscriber’s re13 quest for a waiver under paragraph (4) is re14 jected and the subscriber submits to the sub15 scriber’s satellite carrier a request for a test

16 verifying the subscriber’s inability to receive a

17 signal that meets the Network Nonduplication

18 Signal Standard, the satellite carrier and the

19 television network station or stations asserting

20 nonduplication rights with respect to that sub21 scriber shall select a qualified and independent

22 person to conduct a test in accordance with the

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

24 of Federal Regulations, or any successor regula25 tion. Such test shall be conducted within 30
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1 days after the date the subscriber submits a re2 quest for the test. If the written findings and

3 conclusions of a test conducted in accordance

4 with the provisions of such section (or any suc5 cessor regulation) demonstrate that the sub6 scriber does not receive a signal that meets or

7 exceeds the Network Nonduplication Signal

8 Standard, the network nonduplication rights de9 scribed in paragraph (3)(B) shall not apply to

10 that subscriber.

11 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF TESTOR AND ALLO12 CATION OF COSTS.—If the satellite carrier and

13 the television network station or stations assert14 ing nonduplication rights are unable to agree on

15 such a person to conduct the test, the person

16 shall be designated by an independent and neu17 tral entity designated by the Commission by

18 rule. Unless the satellite carrier and the tele19 vision network station or stations asserting non20 duplication rights otherwise agree, the costs of

21 conducting the test under this paragraph shall

22 be borne equally by the satellite carrier and the

23 television network station or stations asserting

24 nonduplication rights. A subscriber may not be
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1 required to bear any portion of the cost of such

2 test.

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

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

5 installed satellite reception equipment in a rec6 reational vehicle, and who has permitted any tele7 vision network station seeking to assert network

8 nonduplication rights to verify the motor vehicle reg9 istration, license, and proof of ownership of such ve10 hicle, the subscriber shall be considered to be outside

11 the local market and Reception Model Area of such

12 station. For purposes of this paragraph, the term

13 ‘recreational vehicle’ does not include any residential

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

15 the National Manufactured Housing Construction

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

17 5402(6)).

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

19 MODEL.—

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

21 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Sat22 ellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the

23 Commission shall conduct an inquiry of the extent to

24 which the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,

25 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and
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1 the Reception Model Areas of television stations are

2 adequate to reliably measure the ability of con3 sumers to receive an acceptable over-the-air tele4 vision broadcast signal.

5 ‘‘(2) DATA TO BE CONSIDERED.—In conducting

6 the inquiry required by paragraph (1), the Commis7 sion shall consider—

8 ‘‘(A) the number of subscribers requesting

9 waivers under subsection (b)(4), and the num10 ber of waivers that are denied;

11 ‘‘(B) the number of subscribers submitting

12 petitions under subsection (b)(5), and the num13 ber of such petitions that are granted;

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

15 study that may be undertaken to carry out the

16 purposes of this section; and

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

18 not legally entitled to install broadcast reception

19 devices assumed in the Commission’s standard.

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

21 shall submit to the Congress a report on the inquiry

22 required by this subsection not later than the end of

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

24 Commission shall complete any actions necessary to

25 revise the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard,
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1 the Network Nonduplication Reception Model, and

2 the Reception Model Areas of television stations in

3 accordance with the findings of such inquiry not

4 later than 6 months after the end of such 2-year pe5 riod.

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

7 shall prescribe by rule the data required to be sub8 mitted by television broadcast stations and by sat9 ellite carriers to the Commission or such designated

10 entity to carry out this subsection, and the format

11 for submission of such data.’’.

12 SEC. 105. CONSENT OF MEMBERSHIP TO RETRANSMISSION

13 OF PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SAT14 ELLITE FEED.

15 Section 396 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

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

17 new subsection:

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

19 the Board on an annual basis that a majority of its mem20 bership supports or does not support the secondary trans21 mission of the Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed,

22 and provide notice to each satellite carrier carrying such

23 feed of such certification.’’.
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1 SEC. 106. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 3 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47

3 U.S.C. 153) is amended—

4 (1) by redesignating—

5 (A) paragraphs (49) through (52) as para6 graphs (52) through (55), respectively;

7 (B) paragraphs (39) through (48) as para8 graphs (41) through (50), respectively; and

9 (C) paragraphs (27) through (38) as para10 graph (28) through (39), respectively;

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (26) the fol12 lowing new paragraph:

13 ‘‘(27) LOCAL MARKET.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘local mar15 ket’, in the case of both commercial and non16 commercial television broadcast stations, means

17 the designated market area in which a station

18 is located, and—

19 ‘‘(i) in the case of a commercial tele20 vision broadcast station, all commercial tel21 evision broadcast stations licensed to a

22 community within the same designated

23 market area are within the same local mar24 ket; and

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

26 educational television broadcast station,
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1 the market includes any station that is li2 censed to a community within the same

3 designated market area as the noncommer4 cial educational television broadcast sta5 tion.

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

7 the area described in subparagraph (A), a sta8 tion’s local market includes the county in which

9 the station’s community of license is located.

10 ‘‘(C) DESIGNATED MARKET AREA.—For

11 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘des12 ignated market area’ means a designated mar13 ket area, as determined by Nielsen Media Re14 search and published in the DMA Market and

15 Demographic Report.’’;

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (39) (as redes17 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol18 lowing new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(40) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘sat20 ellite carrier’ means an entity that uses the facilities

21 of a satellite or satellite service licensed by the Com22 mission, and operates in the Fixed-Satellite Service

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

24 Regulations or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service

25 under part 100 of title 47 of the Code of Federal
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1 Regulations, to establish and operate a channel of

2 communications for point-to-multipoint distribution

3 of television station signals, and that owns or leases

4 a capacity or service on a satellite in order to pro5 vide such point-to-multipoint distribution, except to

6 the extent that such entity provides such distribution

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

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (50) (as redes9 ignated by paragraph (1) of this section) the fol10 lowing new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(51) TELEVISION NETWORK; TELEVISION NET12 WORK STATION.—

13 ‘‘(A) TELEVISION NETWORK.—The term

14 ‘television network’ means a television network

15 in the United States which offers an inter16 connected program service on a regular basis

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

18 affiliated broadcast stations in 10 or more

19 States.

20 ‘‘(B) TELEVISION NETWORK STATION.—

21 The term ‘television network station’ means a

22 television broadcast station that is owned or op23 erated by, or affiliated with, a television net24 work.’’.
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1 SEC. 107. COMPLETION OF BIENNIAL REGULATORY RE2 VIEW.

3 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this

4 Act, the Commission shall complete the biennial review re5 quired by section 202(h) of the Telecommunications Act

6 of 1996.

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

8 Until the Federal Communications Commission

9 issues regulations under section 712(b)(2) of the Commu10 nications Act of 1934, if a subscriber’s network service

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

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

13 upon the request of the subscriber, provide to the sub14 scriber free of charge an over-the-air television broadcast

15 receiving antenna that will provide the subscriber with an

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

17 stations that were terminated as a result of such section

18 119.

19 SEC. 109. INTERIM PROVISIONS.

20 Until the Federal Communications Commission

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

22 of the Communications Act of 1934, no subscriber whose

23 household is located outside the Grade A contour of a net24 work station shall have his or her satellite service of an25 other network station affiliated with that same network
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1 terminated as a result of the provisions of section 119 of

2 title 17, United States Code.

3 TITLE II—SECONDARY TRANS4 MISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR5 RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MAR6 KETS

7 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

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

9 Compulsory License Improvement Act’’.

10 SEC. 202. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SEC11 ONDARY TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR12 RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.

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

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

15 following new section:

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

17 transmissions by satellite carriers within

18 local markets

19 ‘‘(a) SECONDARY TRANSMISSIONS OF TELEVISION

20 BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec21 ondary transmission of a primary transmission of a tele22 vision broadcast station into the station’s local market

23 shall be subject to statutory licensing under this section

24 if—
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1 ‘‘(1) the secondary transmission is made by a

2 satellite carrier to the public;

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

4 the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the Fed5 eral Communications Commission governing the car6 riage of television broadcast station signals; and

7 ‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi8 rect charge for the secondary transmission to—

9 ‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the sec10 ondary transmission; or

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

12 the satellite carrier for direct or indirect deliv13 ery of the secondary transmission to the public.

14 ‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—

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

16 makes secondary transmissions of a primary trans17 mission made by a network station under subsection

18 (a) shall, within 90 days after commencing such sec19 ondary transmissions, submit to the network that

20 owns or is affiliated with the network station a list

21 identifying (by name in alphabetical order and street

22 address, including county and zip code) all sub23 scribers to which the satellite carrier currently

24 makes secondary transmissions of that primary

25 transmission pursuant to this section.
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1 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub2 mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier

3 shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the net4 work a list identifying (by name in alphabetical

5 order and street address, including county and zip

6 code) any subscribers who have been added or

7 dropped as subscribers since the last submission

8 under this subsection.

9 ‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub10 scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier

11 under this subsection may be used only for the pur12 poses of monitoring compliance by the satellite car13 rier with this section.

14 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS OF STATIONS.—The sub15 mission requirements of this subsection shall apply

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

17 submissions are to be made places on file with the

18 Register of Copyrights a document identifying the

19 name and address of the person to whom such sub20 missions are to be made. The Register shall main21 tain for public inspection a file of all such docu22 ments.

23 ‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite car24 rier whose secondary transmissions are subject to statu-
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1 tory licensing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty

2 obligation for such secondary transmissions.

3 ‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING AND REGU4 LATORY REQUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection

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

6 public by a satellite carrier into the local market of a tele7 vision broadcast station of a primary transmission made

8 by that television broadcast station and embodying a per9 formance or display of a work is actionable as an act of

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

11 remedies provided under sections 502 through 506 and

12 509, if the satellite carrier has not complied with the re13 porting requirements of subsection (b) or with the rules,

14 regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Commu15 nications Commission concerning the carriage of television

16 broadcast signals.

17 ‘‘(e) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding

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

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

20 broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that

21 television broadcast station and embodying a performance

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

23 under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies pro24 vided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and

25 510, if the content of the particular program in which the
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1 performance or display is embodied, or any commercial ad2 vertising or station announcement transmitted by the pri3 mary transmitter during, or immediately before or after,

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

5 altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions,

6 or additions, or is combined with programming from any

7 other broadcast signal.

8 ‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS ON

9 STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION BROADCAST STA10 TIONS.—

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

12 repeated secondary transmission to the public by a

13 satellite carrier of a primary transmission made by

14 a television broadcast station and embodying a per15 formance or display of a work to a subscriber who

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

17 not subject to statutory licensing under section 119,

18 or a private licensing agreement, is actionable as an

19 act of infringement under section 501 and is fully

20 subject to the remedies provided by sections 502

21 through 506 and 509, except that—

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

23 act of infringement if the satellite carrier took

24 corrective action by promptly withdrawing serv25 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 (1), by striking ‘‘(6)’’

14 and inserting ‘‘(5)’’;

15 (B) in paragraph (2)—

16 (i) by striking

17 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi19 sions of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of this

20 paragraph and paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and

21 (6)’’ and inserting:

22 ‘‘(2) NETWORK STATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi24 sions of subparagraph (B) of this paragraph

25 and paragraphs (3), (4), and (5)’’; and
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1 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and

2 redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub3 paragraph (B);

4 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘(2)(C)’’

5 and inserting ‘‘(2)(B)’’; and

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

7 and (10) and redesignating paragraphs (6) and

8 (7) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and

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

10 (10) and (11).

11 SEC. 207. APPLICATION OF FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

12 COMMISSION REGULATIONS.

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

14 amended—

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

16 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

17 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

18 Commission governing the carriage of television

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

20 the public for private home viewing,’’;

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

22 carrier is in compliance with the rules, regulations,

23 or authorizations of the Federal Communications

24 Commission governing the carriage of television
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1 broadcast station signals,’’ after ‘‘satellite carrier to

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

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new

4 paragraph:

5 ‘‘(10) STATUTORY LICENSE CONTINGENT ON

6 COMPLIANCE WITH FCC RULES AND REMEDIAL

7 STEPS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this

8 section, the willful or repeated secondary trans9 mission to the public by a satellite carrier of a pri10 mary transmission made by a broadcast station li11 censed by the Federal Communications Commission

12 is actionable as an act of infringement under section

13 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided by

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

15 of such transmission, the satellite carrier is not in

16 compliance with the rules, regulations, and author17 izations of the Federal Communications Commission

18 concerning the carriage of television broadcast sta19 tion signals.’’.

20 SEC. 208. STUDY ON TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

21 OF MUST-CARRY ON DELIVERY OF LOCAL

22 SIGNALS.

23 Not later than July 1, 2000, the Register of Copy24 rights and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com25 munications and Information shall submit to the Congress
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1 a joint report that sets forth in detail their findings and

2 conclusions with respect to the following:

3 (1) The availability of local television broadcast

4 signals in small and rural markets as part of a serv5 ice that competes with, or supplements, video pro6 gramming containing copyrighted material delivered

7 by satellite carriers or cable operators.

8 (2) The technical feasibility of imposing the re9 quirements of section 338 of the Communications

10 Act of 1934 on satellite carriers that deliver local

11 broadcast station signals containing copyrighted ma12 terial pursuant to section 122 of title 17, United

13 States Code, and the technical and economic impact

14 of section 338 of the Communications Act of 1934

15 on the ability of satellite carriers to serve multiple

16 television markets with retransmission of local tele17 vision broadcast stations, with particular consider18 ation given to the ability to serve television markets

19 other than the 100 largest television markets in the

20 United States (as determined by the Nielson Media

21 Research and published in the DMA market and De22 mographic Report).

23 (3) The technological capability of dual satellite

24 dish technology to receive effectively over-the-air

25 broadcast transmissions containing copyrighted ma-
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1 terial from the local market, the availability of such

2 capability in small and rural markets, and the af3 fordability of such capability.

4 (4) The technological capability (including in5 terference), availability, and affordability of wireless

6 cable (or terrestrial wireless) delivery of local broad7 cast station signals containing copyrighted material

8 pursuant to section 111 of title 17, United States

9 Code, including the feasibility and desirability of the

10 expedited licensing of such competitive wireless tech11 nologies for rural and small markets.

12 (5) The technological capability, availability,

13 and affordability of a broadcast-only basic tier of

14 cable service.

15 SEC. 209. EFFECTIVE DATE.

16 This title and the amendments made by this title

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

18 and the amendments made by section 205 shall take effect

19 on the date of the enactment of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives April 27, 1999.

Attest:

Clerk.