I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1988

To amend title 17, United States Code, and the Communications Act of

1934 with respect to the public performance, by means of the display

of video programming at places of public accommodation, of games

between professional sports teams.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 5, 1993

Mr. LIPINSKI introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on the Judiciary and Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To amend title 17, United States Code, and the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to the public performance,

by means of the display of video programming at places

of public accommodation, of games between professional

sports teams.

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 ‘‘Right to View Profes5 sional Sports Act of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COPYRIGHT EXCEPTION FOR BROADCASTS OF PRO2 FESSIONAL SPORTS TEAMS.

3 (a) EXEMPTION.—(1) Chapter 1 of title 17, United

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

5 following:

6 ‘‘§ 121. Limitations on exclusive rights: exemption for

7 certain displays of video programming

8 ‘‘(a) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN DISPLAYS OF VIDEO

9 PROGRAMMING.—The public performance by means of the

10 display of video programming at a place of public accom11 modation of any game between professional sports teams,

12 which would otherwise be an infringement of copyright to

13 which section 411(b) of this title applies, shall not be an

14 infringement of copyright if a reasonable fee (as deter15 mined under chapter 8) is paid to the copyright owners

16 for such performance.

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section—

18 ‘‘(1) PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM.—The term

19 ‘professional sports team’ means a professional team

20 engaged in the sport of football, baseball, basketball,

21 ice hockey, boxing, or other sport.

22 ‘‘(2) PLACE OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION.—The

23 term ‘place of public accommodation’ means an inn,

24 hotel, motel, or other place of lodging, or a res25 taurant, bar, or other commercial establishment

26 serving food or drink.’’.
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1 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter

2 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by adding

3 at the end the following:

‘‘121. Limitations on exclusive rights: exemption for certain displays of video

programming.’’.

4 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEES.—Section 801(b) of

5 title 17, United States Code, is amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

7 (2);

8 (2) by striking the period at the end of para9 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (3) by adding after paragraph (3) the following:

11 ‘‘(4) to determine and adjust the reasonable

12 fees to be paid to copyright owners for public per13 formances of games between professional sports

14 teams at places of public accommodation for pur15 poses of section 121 of this title, and to publish such

16 fees.

17 In determining or adjusting fees under paragraph (4) with

18 respect to places of public accommodation, the Tribunal

19 shall take into account the average fair market price for

20 comparable programming provided by cable systems (as

21 defined in section 111(f)) and satellite carriers (as defined

22 in section 119(d)) to other places of public accommodation

23 (as defined in section 121(b)) in the same local geographic

24 area.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF COPYRIGHT SYSTEM AS MARKET2 ING SYSTEM FOR PURPOSES OF COMMUNICA3 TIONS ACT OF 1934.

4 Section 705(b) of the Communications Act of 1934

5 (47 U.S.C. 605(b)) is amended—

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (g)

7 as subsections (d) through (i), respectively;

8 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow9 ing new subsection:

10 ‘‘(c) The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply

11 to the interception, receipt, and display of video program12 ming at a place of public accommodation of any game be13 tween professional sports teams if the copyright owners

14 for public performances of such game receive, from the

15 owner or operator of such place of public accommodation,

16 a reasonable fee determined in accordance with section

17 801(b) of title 17, United States Code. For purposes of

18 this section, the terms ‘public accommodation’ and ‘profes19 sional sports team’ have the meanings provided in section

20 121(b) of such title 17.’’.

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