In the Senate of the United States,
May 20, 1999.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 1554) entitled ‘‘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 broad-
cast signals by satellite.’’, do pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
TITLE I—SATELLITE HOME
VIEWERS IMPROVEMENTS ACT
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Satellite Home Viewers
Improvements Act’’.
HR 1554 EAS
SEC. 102. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SEC-
ONDARY TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CAR-
RIERS WITHIN LOCAL MARKETS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 17, United States
Code, is amended by adding after section 121 the following
new section:
‘‘§ 122. Limitations on exclusive rights; secondary
transmissions by satellite carriers within
local markets
‘‘(a) SECONDARY
TRANSMISSIONS
OF
TELEVISION
BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.—A sec-
ondary transmission of a primary transmission of a tele-
vision broadcast station into the station’s local market shall
be subject to statutory licensing under this section if—
‘‘(1) the secondary transmission is made by a
satellite carrier to the public;
‘‘(2) the secondary transmission is permissible
under the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the
Federal Communications Commission; and
‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a direct or indi-
rect charge for the secondary transmission to—
‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the secondary
transmission; or
‘‘(B) a distributor that has contracted with
the satellite carrier for direct or indirect delivery
of the secondary transmission to the public.
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‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL
LISTS.—A satellite carrier that
makes secondary transmissions of a primary trans-
mission made by a network station under subsection
(a) shall, within 90 days after commencing such sec-
ondary transmissions, submit to the network that
owns or is affiliated with the network station a list
identifying (by name and street address, including
county and zip code) all subscribers to which the sat-
ellite carrier currently makes secondary transmissions
of that primary transmission.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list is sub-
mitted under paragraph (1), the satellite carrier
shall, on the 15th of each month, submit to the net-
work a list identifying (by name and street address,
including county and zip code) any subscribers who
have been added or dropped as subscribers since the
last submission under this subsection.
‘‘(3) USE OF SUBSCRIBER INFORMATION.—Sub-
scriber information submitted by a satellite carrier
under this subsection may be used only for the pur-
poses of monitoring compliance by the satellite carrier
with this section.
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS
OF
STATIONS.—The sub-
mission requirements of this subsection shall apply to
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a satellite carrier only if the network to whom the
submissions are to be made places on file with the
Register of Copyrights a document identifying the
name and address of the person to whom such submis-
sions are to be made. The Register shall maintain for
public inspection a file of all such documents.
‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A satellite carrier
whose secondary transmissions are subject to statutory li-
censing under subsection (a) shall have no royalty obliga-
tion for such secondary transmissions.
‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the willful or re-
peated secondary transmission to the public by a satellite
carrier into the local market of a television broadcast sta-
tion of a primary transmission made by that television
broadcast station and embodying a performance or display
of a work is actionable as an act of infringement under
section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies provided
under sections 502 through 506 and 509, if the satellite car-
rier has not complied with the reporting requirements of
subsection (b).
‘‘(e) WILLFUL ALTERATIONS.—Notwithstanding sub-
section (a), the secondary transmission to the public by a
satellite carrier into the local market of a television broad-
cast station of a primary transmission made by that tele-
HR 1554 EAS
vision broadcast station and embodying a performance or
display of a work is actionable as an act of infringement
under section 501, and is fully subject to the remedies pro-
vided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and
510, if the content of the particular program in which the
performance or display is embodied, or any commercial ad-
vertising or station announcement transmitted by the pri-
mary transmitter during, or immediately before or after,
the transmission of such program, is in any way willfully
altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions,
or additions, or is combined with programming from any
other broadcast signal.
‘‘(f) VIOLATION OF TERRITORIAL RESTRICTIONS ON
STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION BROADCAST STA-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—The willful or re-
peated secondary transmission to the public by a sat-
ellite carrier of a primary transmission made by a
television broadcast station and embodying a per-
formance or display of a work to a subscriber who
does not reside in that station’s local market, and is
not subject to statutory licensing under section 119,
is actionable as an act of infringement under section
501 and is fully subject to the remedies provided by
sections 502 through 506 and 509, except that—
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‘‘(A) no damages shall be awarded for such
act of infringement if the satellite carrier took
corrective action by promptly withdrawing serv-
ice from the ineligible subscriber; and
‘‘(B) any statutory damages shall not exceed
$5 for such subscriber for each month during
which the violation occurred.
‘‘(2) PATTERN
OF
VIOLATIONS.—If a satellite
carrier engages in a willful or repeated pattern or
practice of secondarily transmitting to the public a
primary transmission made by a television broadcast
station and embodying a performance or display of a
work to subscribers who do not reside in that station’s
local market, and are not subject to statutory licens-
ing under section 119, then in addition to the rem-
edies under paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) if the pattern or practice has been car-
ried out on a substantially nationwide basis, the
court shall order a permanent injunction barring
the secondary transmission by the satellite car-
rier of the primary transmissions of that tele-
vision broadcast station (and if such television
broadcast station is a network station, all other
television broadcast stations affiliated with such
network), and the court may order statutory
HR 1554 EAS
damages not exceeding $250,000 for each 6-
month period during which the pattern or prac-
tice was carried out; and
‘‘(B) if the pattern or practice has been car-
ried out on a local or regional basis with respect
to more than one television broadcast station
(and if such television broadcast station is a net-
work station, all other television broadcast sta-
tions affiliated with such network), the court
shall order a permanent injunction barring the
secondary transmission in that locality or region
by the satellite carrier of the primary trans-
missions of any television broadcast station, and
the court may order statutory damages not ex-
ceeding $250,000 for each 6-month period during
which the pattern or practice was carried out.
‘‘(g) BURDEN
OF PROOF.—In any action brought
under subsection (d), (e), or (f), the satellite carrier shall
have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission
of a primary transmission by a television broadcast station
is made only to subscribers located within that station’s
local market.
‘‘(h) GEOGRAPHIC
LIMITATIONS
ON
SECONDARY
TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license created by this sec-
tion shall apply to secondary transmissions to locations in
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the United States, and any commonwealth, territory, or
possession of the United States.
‘‘(i) EXCLUSIVITY WITH RESPECT
TO SECONDARY
TRANSMISSIONS OF BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE
TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—No provision of section 111
or any other law (other than this section and section 119)
shall be construed to contain any authorization, exemption,
or license through which secondary transmissions by sat-
ellite carriers of programming contained in a primary
transmission made by a television broadcast station may
be made without obtaining the consent of the copyright
owner.
‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
‘‘(1) The term ‘distributor’ means an entity
which contracts to distribute secondary transmissions
from a satellite carrier and, either as a single channel
or in a package with other programming, provides the
secondary transmission either directly to individual
subscribers or indirectly through other program dis-
tribution entities.
‘‘(2) The term ‘local market’ for a television
broadcast station has the meaning given that term
under rules, regulations, and authorizations of the
Federal Communications Commission relating to car-