Next Generation Television Marketplace Act

To repeal certain provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, title 17 of the United States Code, and the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission that intervened in the television marketplace, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Next Generation Television Marketplace Act 2. Repeal of regulatory intervention in the television marketplace under the Communications Act of 1934 (a) In general The following sections of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 151 (1) Section 339 ( 47 U.S.C. 339 (2) Section 340 ( 47 U.S.C. 340 (3) Section 341 ( 47 U.S.C. 341 (4) Section 342 ( 47 U.S.C. 342 (5) Section 612 ( 47 U.S.C. 532 (6) Section 614 ( 47 U.S.C. 534 (7) Section 712 ( 47 U.S.C. 612 (b) Additional repeal Section 325 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 325 (1) by striking subsections (b) and (e); and (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (b) and (c), respectively. (c) Amendments (1) Section 338 Section 338 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 338 338. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS (a) Carriage Obligations (1) In general Each satellite carrier providing signals of a qualified noncommercial educational television station in that station’s local market shall carry upon request the signals of all qualified noncommercial educational television stations located within that local market. (2) Low power station carriage optional No low power television station shall be entitled to insist on carriage under this section, nor shall any such carriage be considered in connection with the requirements of subsection (c). (b) Good Signal Required A qualified noncommercial educational television station asserting its right to carriage under subsection (a) shall be required to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the designated local receive facility of the satellite carrier or to another facility that is acceptable to at least one-half the stations asserting the right to carriage in the local market. (c) Duplication Not Required The Commission shall prescribe regulations limiting the carriage requirements under subsection (a) of satellite carriers with respect to the carriage of multiple qualified noncommercial educational television stations. To the extent possible, such regulations shall provide the same degree of carriage by satellite carriers of such multiple stations as is provided by cable systems under section 615. (d) Channel Positioning No satellite carrier shall be required to provide the signal of a qualified noncommercial educational television station to subscribers in that station’s local market on any particular channel number or to provide the signals in any particular order, except that the satellite carrier shall retransmit the signal of the qualified noncommercial educational television station to subscribers in the station’s local market on channels reasonably contiguous with other television broadcast channels and provide access to such station’s signals at a nondiscriminatory price and in a nondiscriminatory manner on any navigational device, on-screen program guide, or menu. (e) Compensation for Carriage A satellite carrier shall not accept or request monetary payment or other valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage of qualified noncommercial educational television stations in fulfillment of the requirements of this section or for channel positioning rights provided to such stations under this section, except that any such station may be required to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the local receive facility of the satellite carrier. (f) Remedies (1) Complaints by broadcast stations Whenever a qualified noncommercial educational television station believes that a satellite carrier has failed to meet its obligations under subsections (b) through (e), such station shall notify the carrier, in writing, of the alleged failure and identify its reasons for believing that the satellite carrier failed to comply with such obligations. The satellite carrier shall, within 30 days after such written notification, respond in writing to such notification and comply with such obligations or state its reasons for believing that it is in compliance with such obligations. A qualified noncommercial educational television station that disputes a response by a satellite carrier that it is in compliance with such obligations may obtain review of such denial or response by filing a complaint with the Commission. Such complaint shall allege the manner in which such satellite carrier has failed to meet its obligations and the basis for such allegations. (2) Opportunity to respond The Commission shall afford the satellite carrier against which a complaint is filed under paragraph (1) an opportunity to present data and arguments to establish that there has been no failure to meet its obligations under this section. (3) Remedial actions; dismissal Within 120 days after the date a complaint is filed under paragraph (1), the Commission shall determine whether the satellite carrier has met its obligations under subsections (b) through (e). If the Commission determines that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such obligations, the Commission shall order the satellite carrier to take appropriate remedial action. If the Commission determines that the satellite carrier has fully met the requirements of such subsections, the Commission shall dismiss the complaint. (g) Privacy Rights of Satellite Subscribers (1) Notice At the time of entering into an agreement to provide any satellite service or other service to a subscriber and at least once a year thereafter, a satellite carrier shall provide notice in the form of a separate, written statement to such subscriber that clearly and conspicuously informs the subscriber of— (A) the nature of personally identifiable information collected or to be collected with respect to the subscriber and the nature of the use of such information; (B) the nature, frequency, and purpose of any disclosure which may be made of such information, including an identification of the types of persons to whom the disclosure may be made; (C) the period during which such information will be maintained by the satellite carrier; (D) the times and place at which the subscriber may have access to such information in accordance with paragraph (5); and (E) the limitations provided by this subsection with respect to the collection and disclosure of information by a satellite carrier and the right of the subscriber under paragraphs (7) and (9) to enforce such limitations. In the case of subscribers who have entered into such an agreement before February 6, 2005, such notice shall be provided within 180 days of such date and at least once a year thereafter. (2) Definitions For purposes of this subsection, other than paragraph (9)— (A) the term personally identifiable information (B) the term other service (C) the term satellite carrier (i) is owned or controlled by, or under common ownership or control with, a satellite carrier; and (ii) provides any wire or radio communications service. (3) Prohibitions (A) Consent to collection Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a satellite carrier shall not use any facilities used by the satellite carrier to collect personally identifiable information concerning any subscriber without the prior written or electronic consent of the subscriber concerned. (B) Exceptions A satellite carrier may use such facilities to collect such information in order to— (i) obtain information necessary to render a satellite service or other service provided by the satellite carrier to the subscriber; or (ii) detect unauthorized reception of satellite communications. (4) Disclosure (A) Consent to disclosure Except as provided in subparagraph (B), a satellite carrier shall not disclose personally identifiable information concerning any subscriber without the prior written or electronic consent of the subscriber concerned and shall take such actions as are necessary to prevent unauthorized access to such information by a person other than the subscriber or satellite carrier. (B) Exceptions A satellite carrier may disclose such information if the disclosure is— (i) necessary to render, or conduct a legitimate business activity related to, a satellite service or other service provided by the satellite carrier to the subscriber; (ii) subject to paragraph (9), made pursuant to a court order authorizing such disclosure, if the subscriber is notified of such order by the person to whom the order is directed; (iii) a disclosure of the names and addresses of subscribers to any satellite service or other service, if— (I) the satellite carrier has provided the subscriber the opportunity to prohibit or limit such disclosure; and (II) the disclosure does not reveal, directly or indirectly, the— (aa) extent of any viewing or other use by the subscriber of a satellite service or other service provided by the satellite carrier; or (bb) the nature of any transaction made by the subscriber over any facilities used by the satellite carrier; or (iv) to a government entity as authorized under chapter 119, 121, or 206 of title 18, United States Code, except that such disclosure shall not include records revealing satellite subscriber selection of video programming from a satellite carrier. (5) Access by subscriber A satellite subscriber shall be provided access to all personally identifiable information regarding that subscriber which is collected and maintained by a satellite carrier. Such information shall be made available to the subscriber at reasonable times and at a convenient place designated by such satellite carrier. A satellite subscriber shall be provided reasonable opportunity to correct any error in such information. (6) Destruction of information A satellite carrier shall destroy personally identifiable information if the information is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and there are no pending requests or orders for access to such information under paragraph (5) or pursuant to a court order. (7) Penalties Any person aggrieved by any act of a satellite carrier in violation of this subsection may bring a civil action in a United States district court. The court may award— (A) actual damages but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $100 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, whichever is higher; (B) punitive damages; and (C) reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred. The remedy provided by this subsection shall be in addition to any other lawful remedy available to a satellite subscriber. (8) Rule of construction Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit any State from enacting or enforcing laws consistent with this subsection for the protection of subscriber privacy. (9) Court orders Except as provided in paragraph (4)(B)(iv), a governmental entity may obtain personally identifiable information concerning a satellite subscriber pursuant to a court order only if, in the court proceeding relevant to such court order— (A) such entity offers clear and convincing evidence that the subject of the information is reasonably suspected of engaging in criminal activity and that the information sought would be material evidence in the case; and (B) the subject of the information is afforded the opportunity to appear and contest such entity’s claim. (h) Regulations by Commission The regulations prescribed under this section shall include requirements on satellite carriers that are comparable to the requirements on cable operators under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 615(g). (i) Definitions As used in this section: (1) Distributor The term distributor (2) Local receive facility The term local receive facility (3) Local market (A) In general The term local market (B) County of license In addition to the area described in subparagraph (A), a station’s local market includes the county in which the station’s community of license is located. (C) Designated market area For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term designated market area (D) Certain areas outside of any designated market area Any census area, borough, or other area in the State of Alaska that is outside of a designated market area, as determined by Nielsen Media Research, shall be deemed to be part of one of the local markets in the State of Alaska. A satellite carrier may determine which local market in the State of Alaska will be deemed to be the relevant local market in connection with each subscriber in such census area, borough, or other area. (4) Low power television station The term low power television station low power television station (5) Qualified noncommercial educational television station The term qualified noncommercial educational television station (6) Satellite carrier The term satellite carrier (7) Subscriber The term subscriber . (2) Section 623 Section 623 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 543 623. Regulation of rates and broadcast signal carriage No Federal agency, State, or franchising authority may regulate— (1) the rates for the provision of the service of a multichannel video programming distributor; or (2) the retransmission of television broadcast signals by a multichannel video programming distributor except in accordance with the requirements of sections 338 and 615 related to qualified noncommercial educational television stations. . (d) Conforming amendments (1) Section 309 Section 309(c)(2)(F) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 309(c)(2)(F) section 325(c) section 325(b) (2) Section 336 Section 336(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 336(b)(3) 614 or (3) Section 343 Section 343 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 343 (4) Section 613 Section 613 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 533 (5) Section 615 Section 615 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 535 (A) in subsection (a), by striking In addition to the carriage requirements set forth in section 614, each Each (B) by striking subsection (f); and (C) in subsection (l), by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: (1) Qualified noncommercial educational television station (A) In general The term qualified noncommercial educational television station (i) under the rules and regulations of the Commission in effect on March 29, 1990, is licensed by the Commission as a noncommercial educational television broadcast station and is owned and operated by a public agency, nonprofit foundation, nonprofit corporation, or nonprofit association; or (ii) is owned and operated by a municipality and transmits predominantly noncommercial programs for educational purposes. (B) Inclusions Such term includes— (i) the translator of any noncommercial educational television station with five watts or higher power serving the franchise area; (ii) a full-service station or translator if such station or translator is licensed to a channel reserved for noncommercial educational use pursuant to section 73.606 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulations thereto; and (iii) such stations and translators operating on channels not so reserved as the Commission determines are qualified as noncommercial educational stations. . (6) Section 621 Section 621(b)(3)(D) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 541(b)(3)(D) sections 611 and 612 section 611 (7) Section 622 Section 622(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 542(c) pursuant to section 623 (8) Section 625 Section 625 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 545 (A) in subsection (c)— (i) by striking rearrange, replace, replace (ii) in paragraph (1), by striking ; or (iii) by striking paragraph (2); and (iv) by striking franchise if— such service is no longer franchise if such service is no longer (B) in subsection (d), by striking , if the rates (9) Section 632 Section 632(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 552(c) section 623(b)(6) or (10) Section 635 Section 635(c) of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 555(c) 614 or (11) Section 638 Section 638 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 558 governmental use or on any other channel obtained under section 612 or under similar arrangements or governmental use (12) Section 653 Section 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 573 (A) in subsection (b)(1)— (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking , 614, (ii) in subparagraph (C), by adding and (iii) by striking subparagraph (D) and redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (D); and (B) in subsection (c)(1)— (i) in subparagraph (A)— (I) by striking (other than subsection (a) thereof) (II) by striking 623(f), (ii) in subparagraph (B)— (I) by striking , 614, (II) by striking , and section 325 of title III, (iii) in subparagraph (C)— (I) by striking sections 612 and 617 section 617 (II) by striking 623(f), 3. Repeal of regulatory intervention in the television marketplace under the Copyright Act (a) In general (1) Repeal Sections 119, 122, and 510 of title 17, United States Code, are hereby repealed. (2) Conforming amendments The table of sections at the beginning of— (A) chapter 1 (B) chapter 5 (b) Amendments Section 111 of title 17, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a)— (A) in paragraph (1)— (i) by striking local service area of such station designated market area (as defined in section 501(c)(2)) (ii) by striking or (B) in paragraph (2) by striking or (C) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows: (4) the secondary transmission— (A) is made by— (i) a cable system in accordance with section 615 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 535 (ii) a satellite carrier in accordance with section 338 of the Communications Act of 1934 ( 47 U.S.C. 338 (B) is consistent with the rules, regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission; or ; (2) in subsection (b) by striking subsections (a) and (c) subsection (a) (3) by striking subsections (c), (d), and (e); (4) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (c); and (5) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— (A) in paragraph (3), by striking the second sentence; (B) by striking paragraphs (4) through (13); and (C) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: (4) Satellite carrier The term satellite carrier 47 U.S.C. 151 (5) Private home viewing The term private home viewing . (c) Conforming amendments Title 17, United States Code, is amended— (1) in section 106, by striking 122 121 (2) in section 110(8), by striking section 111(f) section 111(c) (3) in section 114(d)(1)(B)(iii), by striking section 111(f) section 111(c) (4) in section 501— (A) in subsection (a), by striking 122 121 (B) by striking subsections (c), (d), and (e); and (C) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows: (c) (1) With respect to any secondary transmission that is made by a cable system or by a satellite carrier of a performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission and is actionable as an act of infringement under section 111, a television broadcast station holding a copyright or other license to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall, for purposes of subsection (b), be treated as a legal or beneficial owner if such secondary transmission occurs within the designated market area of that station. (2) For purposes of this subsection, the term designated market area ; (5) in section 511(a), by striking 122 121 (6) in section 708(a)— (A) in paragraph (8), by inserting and (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the semicolon and inserting a period; (C) by striking paragraphs (10) and (11); and (D) by striking Fees established under paragraphs (10) and (11) shall be reasonable and may not exceed one-half of the cost necessary to cover reasonable expenses incurred by the Copyright Office for the collection and administration of the statements of account and any royalty fees deposited with such statements. (7) in section 801— (A) in subsection (b)— (i) in paragraph (1) by striking 119, (ii) by striking paragraph (2); (iii) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and (iv) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated— (I) in subparagraph (A), by striking , as the case may be, (II) in subparagraph (B), by striking , as the case may be (III) in subparagraph (C), by striking section 804(b)(8) section 804(b)(7) (B) by striking sections 111, 119, and section (C) by striking 111, 119, or (8) in section 803— (A) in subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)— (i) by striking 111, (ii) by striking 119, (iii) in subclause (V), by striking , except that the publication of notice requirement shall not apply in the case of proceedings under section 111 that are scheduled to commence in 2005 (B) in subsection (d)(2)(C)(i)— (i) by striking 111, (ii) by striking 119, (C) in subsection (e)(2)— (i) by striking 111, (ii) by striking 118, or 119 or 118 (9) in section 804— (A) in subsection (a)— (i) by striking paragraphs (1) and (2) paragraph (1) (ii) by striking 111, (iii) by striking 119, (B) in subsection (b)— (i) by striking paragraph (1); (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; and (iii) in paragraph (7), as so redesignated— (I) by striking section 801(b)(3) section 801(b)(2) (II) by striking 111, 119, or 4. Repeal of Commission’s rules related to regulatory intervention (a) In general The Federal Communications Commission shall take all actions necessary to— (1) repeal section 73.658 of the Commission’s rules (47 CFR 73.658); (2) repeal subpart D of part 76 of the Commission’s rules, except to the extent such subpart relates to the carriage of qualified noncommercial educational television stations consistent with the amendments made by this Act; (3) repeal subpart F of part 76 of the Commission’s rules; (4) modify subpart S of part 76 of the Commission’s rules by eliminating any requirements relating to network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity for open video systems; and (5) modify the broadcast ownership limitations set forth in section 73.3555 of the Commission’s rules (47 CFR 73.3555) by eliminating the restrictions on the number of broadcast television stations that a person or entity may directly or indirectly own, operate, or control in the same designated market area (as such term is defined under section 501(c)(2) of title 17, United States Code), as described in paragraph (b) of such section 73.3555. (b) Prohibition on reimposing certain eliminated rules The Federal Communications Commission may not reimpose— (1) the radio-television cross-ownership rule, as described in paragraph (c) of section 73.3555 of the Commission’s rules (47 CFR 73.3555), as in effect on November 15, 2017; or (2) the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule, as described in paragraph (d) of section 73.3555 of the Commission’s rules (47 CFR 73.3555), as in effect on November 15, 2017. 5. Effective date Except as provided in section 6, this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect on January 1, 2023. 6. Continued collection and distribution of previously due royalties Notwithstanding section 5, the collection and distribution of royalties due for secondary transmissions made pursuant to sections 111 and 119 of title 17, United States Code, prior to January 1, 2023, shall continue to be governed by such title and the rules of the Register of Copyrights and Copyright Royalty Judges as in effect prior to the date of enactment of this Act until such time as the Register certifies that all royalties collected pursuant to such provisions have been distributed.

Summary: Next Generation Television Marketplace Act This bill repeals provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 concerning: (1) the carriage of distant television stations and significantly viewed signals by satellite carriers, (2) the retransmittal of television signals to certain state counties in the designated market area of another state by cable operators or satellite carriers, (3) the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) qualified carrier certification process, (4) the carriage of local commercial television signals and qualified low power stations by cable operators, and (5) the requirement that cable systems or other multichannel video programming distributors obtain consent to retransmit a broadcasting station signal. The bill: (1) repeals and revises provisions concerning the carriage of local television signals by satellite carriers, and the regulation of rates and broadcast signal carriage; (2) repeals federal copyright laws requiring statutory licenses for certain secondary transmissions of distant and local television programming by satellite carriers; and (3) extends exemptions from copyright infringement laws to certain secondary transmissions by cable systems and satellite carriers. The FCC must repeal related FCC rules and eliminate: (1) restrictions on the number of broadcast television stations that a person or entity may own, operate, or control in the same designated market area under the local television multiple ownership rule; (2) the radio-television cross-ownership rule; and (3) limitations on the ownership, operation, or control of a broadcast television station by a person or entity that owns, operates, or controls a daily newspaper. The bill prohibits reimposing certain eliminated rules..