II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4067 

To provide for secondary transmissions of distant network signals for private 

home viewing by certain satellite carriers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2006 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. BYRD, Mr. 

INOUYE, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. ROBERTS, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. 

ENZI, Mrs. CLINTON, and Mr. ENSIGN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for secondary transmissions of distant network 

signals for private home viewing by certain satellite carriers. 

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 Consumer 

5 Protection Act of 2006’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS: SECONDARY 

2 TRANSMISSIONS OF DISTANT NETWORK SIG3 NALS FOR PRIVATE HOME VIEWING BY CER4 TAIN SATELLITE CARRIERS. 

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

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 119 the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘§ 119A. Limitations on exclusive rights: secondary 

9 transmissions of distant network signals 

10 for private home viewing by certain sat11 ellite carriers 

12 ‘‘(a) STATUTORY LICENSE GRANTED.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any in14 junction issued under section 119(a)(7)(B), a sat15 ellite carrier found to have engaged in a pattern or 

16 practice of violations pursuant to section 

17 119(a)(7)(B) is granted a statutory license to pro18 vide a secondary transmission of a performance or 

19 display of a work embodied in a primary trans20 mission made by a network station in accordance 

21 with the provisions of this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) SIGNIFICANTLY VIEWED SIGNALS.—Under 

23 the statutory license granted by paragraph (1), a 

24 satellite carrier may provide a secondary trans25 mission of a primary transmission made by a netVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 Nov 21, 2006 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4067.IS S4067

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1 work station as provided in paragraph (2)(C) or (3) 

2 of section 119(a). 

3 ‘‘(3) DISTANT SIGNALS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the statutory 

5 license granted by paragraph (1), a satellite 

6 carrier may provide a secondary transmission of 

7 a performance or display of a work embodied in 

8 a primary transmission made by a network sta9 tion, subject to the limitations of subparagraphs 

10 (B) and (C), of not more than 1 network sta11 tion in a single day for each television network. 

12 ‘‘(B) NON-LOCAL-INTO-LOCAL MARKETS.— 

13 A satellite carrier may provide a secondary 

14 transmission under subparagraph (A) in a local 

15 market (as defined in section 122(j)) in which 

16 a satellite carrier does not currently provide, 

17 and has not ever provided, a transmission pur18 suant to a statutory license under section 122, 

19 if the satellite carrier— 

20 ‘‘(i) complies with the terms and con21 ditions for a statutory license under section 

22 119; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) certifies to the Copyright Office 

24 within 30 days after the date of enactment 

25 of the Satellite Consumer Protection Act of 


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1 2006, or before initiating service to a sub2 scriber under this section, whichever is 

3 later, that all subscribers receiving sec4 ondary transmissions pursuant to a statu5 tory license under this section in that local 

6 market reside in unserved households, as 

7 determined under section 119(a)(2)(B)(ii); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(iii) deposits, in addition to the de10 posits required by section 119(b)(1), a du11 plicate payment with the Register of Copy12 rights in the same amount for each net13 work station in the local market affiliated 

14 with the same network as the network sta15 tion being imported. 

16 ‘‘(C) SHORT MARKETS.—In a local market 

17 (as defined in section 122(j)) in which a net18 work station (as defined in section 119(d)) af19 filiated with the ABC, CBS, NBC, or Fox tele20 vision network is not licensed by the Federal 

21 Communications Commission, a satellite carrier 

22 may provide secondary transmission under sub23 paragraph (A) of the primary signals of a net24 work station affiliated with that network, if the 

25 satellite carrier— 


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1 ‘‘(i) complies with the terms and con2 ditions for a statutory license under section 

3 119; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) certifies to the Copyright Office 

5 within 30 days after the date of enactment 

6 of the Satellite Consumer Protection Act of 

7 2006, or before initiating service to a sub8 scriber under this section, whichever is 

9 later, that all subscribers receiving sec10 ondary transmissions pursuant to a statu11 tory license under this section in that local 

12 market reside in unserved households, as 

13 determined under section 119(a)(2)(B)(ii). 

14 ‘‘(D) SHORT MARKET EXCEPTION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

16 subparagraph (C), a satellite carrier may 

17 not provide secondary transmission of the 

18 primary signals of a network station under 

19 that subparagraph if secondary trans20 mission of those signals could be provided 

21 under paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(ii) DISCONTINUANCE OF SEC23 ONDARY TRANSMISSION WHEN PRIMARY

24 SIGNAL BECOMES AVAILABLE.—Notwith25 standing subparagraph (C), a satellite carVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 Nov 21, 2006 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4067.IS S4067

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1 rier that has been providing secondary 

2 transmission of the primary signals of a 

3 network station under subparagraph (C) in 

4 a local market may not provide such sec5 ondary transmission in that local market 

6 more than 30 days after the date on which 

7 a network station affiliated with the same 

8 network begins to broadcast or rebroadcast 

9 the basic programming service of that net10 work in that local market and could be 

11 carried pursuant to a license under section 

12 122. 

13 ‘‘(b) DISTRIBUTION OF DUPLICATE DEPOSIT

14 AMOUNTS.—The Copyright Royalty Judges shall author15 ize the Librarian of Congress to distribute semiannually 

16 amounts received by the Register of Copyrights as depos17 its under subsection (a)(3)(B)(iii), after deducting the rea18 sonable costs incurred by the Copyright Office and the 

19 Copyright Royalty Judges under this section, in accord20 ance with a process that the Copyright Royalty Judges 

21 may prescribe by regulation, to a network station (as de22 fined in section 119(d)(2)) affiliated with the network 

23 whose signals are being carried under this section to a 

24 community within the local market (as defined in section 


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1 122(j)) in which such signals are being provided under 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(c) STATUTORY DAMAGES.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The violation by a satellite 

5 carrier of subsection (a) is actionable as an act of 

6 infringement under section 501 and is subject to 

7 statutory damages equal to $100 per month multi8 plied by the number of subscribers with respect to 

9 which the violation was committed for each month 

10 during which the violation was committed (treating 

11 each month of a continuing violation as a separate 

12 violation). 

13 ‘‘(2) PETITION.—A petition for statutory dam14 ages may be made to the Copyright Royalty Judges, 

15 pursuant to such rules as may be prescribed by the 

16 Copyright Royalty Judges by regulation. In any pro17 ceeding under this section, the satellite carrier shall 

18 have the burden of proving that its secondary trans19 mission of a primary transmission by a network sta20 tion is to a subscriber who is eligible to receive the 

21 secondary transmission under this section. 

22 ‘‘(3) ESCROW.—As a condition of using the 

23 statutory license under subsection (a), a satellite 

24 carrier must deposit the sum of $20,000,000 in es25 crow with the Copyright Office. The Copyright OfVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:04 Nov 21, 2006 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4067.IS S4067

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1 fice shall deposit the escrow funds in an account in 

2 the Treasury of the United States, in such manner 

3 as the Secretary of the Treasury directs, and in4 vested in interest-bearing securities of the United 

5 States with any interest from such investment to be 

6 credited to the account. The Copyright Royalty 

7 Judges shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine 

8 liability for and entitlement to the statutory dam9 ages owed to the petitioning party in accordance 

10 with a process to be prescribed by regulation and 

11 they shall authorize the Librarian of Congress to 

12 distribute funds from the escrow account to satisfy 

13 this determination. After all petitions under this sec14 tion against a satellite carrier have been resolved, 

15 any amount remaining in the satellite carrier’s es16 crow account after February 17, 2009, after deduct17 ing the reasonable costs incurred by the Copyright 

18 Office and the Copyright Royalty Judges under this 

19 section, shall be returned to the satellite carrier. 

20 ‘‘(4) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—A satellite carrier 

21 may seek judicial review of all determinations of the 

22 Copyright Royalty Judges on a consolidated basis in 

23 a single petition of appeal to the United States 

24 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir25 cuit within 30 days after the later of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) February 17, 2009; or 

2 ‘‘(B) the date on which all amounts in the 

3 escrow account have been distributed or re4 turned. 

5 ‘‘(d) SUNSET.—This section shall not apply after 

6 February 17, 2009.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal8 ysis for chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is 

9 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

10 119 the following: 

‘‘119A. Limitations on exclusive rights: secondary transmissions of distant network signals for private home viewing by certain satellite carriers.’’. 

Æ 


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