Union Calendar No. 398
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2921
[Report No. 105–661, Parts I and II]
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to re-
quire the Federal Communications Commission
to conduct an inquiry into the impediments to
the development of competition in the market for
multichannel video programming distribution.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1998
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with
amendments, committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered
to be printed
IB
Union Calendar No. 398
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2921
[Report No. 105–661, Parts I and II]
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Commu-
nications Commission to conduct an inquiry into the impediments to
the development of competition in the market for multichannel video
programming distribution.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 7, 1997
Mr. TAUZIN (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. BOUCHER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and
in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
JULY 30, 1998
Reported from the Committee on Commerce with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
JULY 30, 1998
Referral to the Committee on the Judiciary extended for a period ending not
later than September 11, 1998
SEPTEMBER 10, 1998
Additional sponsors: Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.
HALL of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. HILL, Mr.
MCHUGH, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. JOHN, Mr.
MILLER of Florida, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. DEAL of Georgia,
Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. WALSH, Mr. SKELTON,
Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. BARCIA, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr.
STENHOLM, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. HAMILTON, Mrs.
THURMAN, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr.
DEFAZIO, Mr. PETRI, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. LATHAM, Mr.
JONES, Mr. THORNBERRY, Ms. DANNER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. LARGENT, Mr.
CLYBURN, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. CAMP,
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Mr. COBURN, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. DAN SCHAEFER of Colo-
rado, Mr. POSHARD, Mr. KLINK, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BERRY, Mrs. EMER-
SON, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. TANNER, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. SOLO-
MON, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. STUMP, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr.
BOYD, Mr. GOSS, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, Mr. SKEEN, Mr.
ROGAN, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. UPTON, Mr. YOUNG of Alas-
ka, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. WISE, Mr.
HUTCHINSON, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. HORN, Mr. PARKER, Mrs. MYRICK,
Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. KIND, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. COOK,
Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr.
TRAFICANT, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky,
Mr. WOLF, Mr. HASTERT, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. PICKER-
ING, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Ms. STABENOW, Mr.
MINGE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. MURTHA, Mr.
KENNEDY of Massachusetts, Mr. GOODLING, Mrs. LINDA SMITH of
Washington, Mr. CANNON, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr.
WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. DAVIS of Florida, Mr. COL-
LINS, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. TURNER, Mr.
SANDLIN, Mr. QUINN, Mr. NEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr.
BATEMAN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. RIVERS, Mr.
ADERHOLT, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. REYES, Mr. ENSIGN,
Mr. OLVER, Mr. EWING, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. STRICK-
LAND, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr.
MILLER of California, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. THOMPSON, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr.
GANSKE, Mr. KLUG, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. ENGEL, Mr.
CHAMBLISS, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. FARR of
California, Mr. POMEROY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. DEUTSCH, and Mr.
EVANS
SEPTEMBER 10, 1998
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with amendments, committed
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
ordered to be printed
[Omit the part in black brackets and insert the part printed in boldface roman]
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the
Federal Communications Commission to conduct an in-
quiry into the impediments to the development of com-
petition in the market for multichannel video program-
ming distribution.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Multichannel Video
Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. INQUIRY REQUIRED.
Section 623 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 623) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(o) INQUIRY ON IMPEDIMENTS TO DEVELOPMENT
OF EFFECTIVE COMPETITION.—
‘‘(1)
INQUIRY
REQUIRED.—Within
days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Commission shall initiate an inquiry on the extent to
which the differential fee decision constitutes an im-
pediment to the development of effective competition
in the market for multichannel video programming
distribution from multichannel video programming
distributors described in subsection (l)(1)(B).
‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within 90 days after
the date of enactment of this subsection, the Com-
mission shall submit a report on the results of the
inquiry to the Committee on Commerce and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-
resentatives
and
the
Committee
on
Commerce,
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Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
the Judiciary of the Senate.
‘‘(3) RULEMAKING.—Within 180 days after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Commis-
sion shall complete any actions necessary (including
any reconsideration) to make such changes as the
Commission may determine to be necessary to its
regulations on the basis of the inquiry required by
this subsection.
‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘differential fee decision’ means
the decision of the Librarian of Congress on October
27, 1997, relating to the per subscriber per month
royalty fee for the retransmission of superstation
and distant network signals by direct-to-home sat-
ellite service providers.’’.
SEC. 3. DIRECT-TO-HOME SATELLITE PIRACY PREVENTION.
Section 705(d)(6) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 605(d)(6)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or
direct-to-home satellite services (as defined in section
303(v))’’ after ‘‘satellite cable programming’’.
SEC. 4. STAY PENDING COMPLETION OF INQUIRY.
Until 120 days after the submission of the report re-
quired by section 623(o) of the Communications Act of
1934 (as added by section 2 of this Act), no officer or
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employee of the United States shall take any action to im-
plement or enforce, and no obligation or liability shall ac-
crue pursuant to, the differential fee decision described in
paragraph (4) of such section.
øSECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
øThis Act may be cited as the ‘‘Multichannel Video
Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1998’’.
øSEC. 2. INQUIRY REQUIRED.
øSection 623 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 543) is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
ø‘‘(o) INQUIRY ON IMPEDIMENTS TO DEVELOPMENT OF
EFFECTIVE COMPETITION.—
ø‘‘(1) INQUIRY
REQUIRED.—Within 30 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Commission shall initiate an inquiry on the extent to
which the differential fee decision constitutes an im-
pediment to the development of effective competition
in the market for multichannel video programming
distribution from multichannel video programming
distributors described in subsection (l)(1)(B).
ø‘‘(2) REPORT
REQUIRED.—Within 90 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the
Commission shall submit a report on the results of the
inquiry to the Committee on Commerce and the Com-
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mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and the Committee on the Judiciary
of the Senate.
ø‘‘(3) RULEMAKING.—Within 180 days after the
date of enactment of this subsection, the Commission
shall complete any actions necessary (including any
reconsideration) to make such changes as the Commis-
sion may determine to be necessary to its regulations
on the basis of the inquiry required by this subsection.
ø‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this
subsection, the term ‘differential fee decision’ means
the decision of the Librarian of Congress on October
27, 1997, relating to the per subscriber per month
royalty fee for the retransmission of superstation and
distant network signals by direct-to-home satellite
service providers.’’.¿
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Copyright
Compulsory License Improvement Act of
1998.’’
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SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS; SECONDARY
TRANSMISSIONS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS
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 TELE-
VISION BROADCAST STATIONS BY SATELLITE CAR-
RIERS.—A secondary transmission into the
local market of a television broadcast station
of a primary transmission made by that sta-
tion and embodying the performance or dis-
play of a work shall be subject to statutory li-
censing 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 Commu-
nications Commission; and
‘‘(3) the satellite carrier makes a di-
rect or indirect charge for the secondary
transmission to—
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‘‘(A) each subscriber receiving the
secondary transmission; or
‘‘(B) a distributor that has con-
tracted with the satellite carrier for
direct or indirect delivery of the sec-
ondary transmission to the public.
‘‘(b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL LISTS.—A satellite carrier
that makes secondary transmissions of a
primary transmission made by a network
station pursuant to subsection (a) shall,
within 90 days after commencing such
secondary transmissions, submit to the
network that owns or is affiliated with
the network station a list identifying (by
name and street address, including coun-
ty and ZIP code) all subscribers to which
the satellite carrier currently makes sec-
ondary transmissions of that primary
transmission.
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT LISTS.—After the list
is submitted under paragraph (1), the sat-
ellite carrier shall, on the 15th of each
month, submit to the network a list iden-
tifying (by name and street address, in-
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cluding county and zip code) any sub-
scribers who have been added or dropped
as subscribers since the last submission
under this subsection.
‘‘(3) 
USE
OF
SUBSCRIBER
INFORMA-
TION.—Subscriber information submitted
by a satellite carrier under this sub-
section may be used only for the pur-
poses of monitoring compliance by the
satellite carrier with this section.
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS OF NETWORKS.—The
submission requirements of this sub-
section shall apply to a satellite carrier
only if the network to whom the submis-
sions 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 submissions are to
be made. The Register shall maintain for
public inspection a file of all such docu-
ments.
‘‘(c) NO ROYALTY FEE REQUIRED.—A sat-
ellite carrier whose secondary transmissions
are subject to statutory licensing under sub-
section (a) shall have no obligation to pay roy-
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alties under this title for such secondary
transmissions.
‘‘(d) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH REPORTING RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a),
the willful or repeated secondary trans-
mission to the public by a satellite carrier
into the local market of a television broadcast
station of a primary transmission made by
that station and embodying a performance or
display of a work is actionable as an act of in-
fringement under section 501, and is fully sub-
ject to the remedies provided under sections
502 through 506 and 509, if the satellite car-
rier has not complied with the reporting re-
quirements of subsection (b).
‘‘(e) 
WILLFUL
ALTERATIONS.—Notwith-
standing subsection (a), the secondary trans-
mission to the public by a satellite carrier
into the local market of a television broadcast
station of a primary transmission made by
that television broadcast station and embody-
ing a performance or display of a work is ac-
tionable as an act of infringement under sec-
tion 501, and is fully subject to the remedies
provided by sections 502 through 506 and sec-
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tions 509 and 510, if the content of the par-
ticular program in which the performance or
display is embodied, or any commercial ad-
vertising or station announcement transmit-
ted by the primary transmitter during, or im-
mediately before or after, the transmission of
such program, is in any way willfully altered
by the satellite carrier through changes, dele-
tions, or additions, or is combined with pro-
gramming from any other broadcast signal.
‘‘(f) VIOLATION
OF TERRITORIAL RESTRIC-
TIONS ON STATUTORY LICENSE FOR TELEVISION
BROADCAST STATIONS.—
‘‘(1) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—The will-
ful or repeated secondary transmission to
the public by a satellite carrier of a pri-
mary transmission made by a television
broadcast station and embodying a per-
formance or display of a work to a sub-
scriber who does not reside in that sta-
tion’s local market, and is not subject to
statutory licensing under section 119, is
actionable as an act on infringement
under section 501 and is fully subject to
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the remedies provided by sections 502
through 506 and 509, except that—
‘‘(A) no damages shall be awarded
for such act of infringement if the
satellite carrier took corrective ac-
tion by promptly withdrawing service
from the ineligible subscriber; and
‘‘(B) any statutory damages shall
not exceed $5 for such subscriber for
each month during which the viola-
tion occurred.
‘‘(2) PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.—If a sat-
ellite carrier engages in a willful or re-
peated pattern or practice of secondarily
transmitting to the public a primary
transmission made by a television broad-
cast station and embodying a perform-
ance or display of a work to subscribers
who do not reside in that station’s local
market, and are not subject to statutory
licensing under section 119, then in addi-
tion to the remedies set forth in para-
graph (1)—
‘‘(A) if the pattern or practice has
been carried out on a substantially
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nationwide basis, the court shall
order a permanent injunction barring
the secondary transmission by the
satellite carrier of the primary trans-
missions of any television broadcast
station, and the court may order stat-
utory damages not exceeding $250,000
for each 6-month period during which
the pattern or practice was carried
out; and
‘‘(B) if the pattern or practice has
been carried out on a local or re-
gional basis with respect to more
than one television broadcast station,
the court shall order a permanent in-
junction barring the secondary trans-
mission in that locality or region by
the satellite carrier of the primary
transmissions of any television broad-
cast station, and the court may order
statutory 
damages 
not 
exceeding
$250,000 for each 6-month period dur-
ing which the pattern or practice was
carried out.
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‘‘(g) BURDEN
OF PROOF.—In any action
brought under subsection (d), (e) or (f), the
satellite carrier shall have the burden of prov-
ing that its secondary transmission of a pri-
mary transmission by a television broadcast
station is made only to subscribers located
within that station’s local market.
‘‘(h) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATION
ON SECOND-
ARY
TRANSMISSIONS.—The statutory license
created by this section shall apply only to sec-
ondary transmissions to locations in the
United States.
‘‘(i) EXCLUSIVITY WITH RESPECT TO SECOND-
ARY 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, ex-
emption, or license through which secondary
transmissions by satellite carriers of pro-
gramming contained in a primary trans-
mission made by a television broadcast sta-
tion may be made without obtaining the con-
sent of the copyright owner.
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‘‘(j) STATUTORY LICENSE CONTINGENT
ON
COMPLIANCE WITH SATELLITE MUST-CARRY RE-
QUIREMENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a),
the willful or repeated secondary trans-
mission to the public into the local market of
a television broadcast station by a satellite
carrier of a primary transmission made by
that station and embodying a performance or
display of a work is actionable as an act of in-
fringement under section 501, and is fully sub-
ject to the remedies provided by sections 502
through 506 and 509, if at the time of such
transmission the satellite carrier is not in
compliance with the requirements of sub-
section (k) to carry television stations.
‘‘(k) CARRIAGE OBLIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Each satellite car-
rier providing secondary transmissions
to subscribers located within the local
market of a television broadcast station
of a primary transmission made by that
station shall carry upon request all tele-
vision broadcast stations located within
that local market, subject to subsection
(l), except that the carriage obligations of
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this subsection shall apply only to sat-
ellite carriers that retransmit the signals
of broadcast television stations pursuant
to the statutory license under this sec-
tion. Carriage of additional broadcast
stations within that local market shall be
at the discretion of the satellite carrier,
subject to subsection (l). The satellite car-
rier shall carry the entire signal of each
local television station carried pursuant
to this subsection.
‘‘(2) DUPLICATION NOT REQUIRED.—Not-
withstanding paragraph (1), a satellite
carrier shall not be required to carry
upon request the signal of any local tele-
vision broadcast station that substan-
tially duplicates the signal of another tel-
evision broadcast station within the same
local market which is secondarily trans-
mitted by the satellite carrier, or to carry
upon request the signals of more than
one local television broadcast station in a
single local market that is affiliated with
a particular broadcast network (as the
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term ‘broadcast network’ is defined by
the Register of Copyrights by regulation).
‘‘(3) CARRIAGE
OF
ALL
LOCAL
TELE-
VISION
STATIONS
ON
CONTIGUOUS
CHAN-
NELS.—All local television broadcast sta-
tions retransmitted by a satellite carrier
to subscribers in the stations’ local mar-
kets shall be made available to subscrib-
ers in their local markets on contiguous
channels and in a nondiscriminatory
manner on any navigational device, on-
screen program guide, or menu.
‘‘(4) COMPENSATION
FOR
CARRIAGE.—A
satellite carrier shall not accept or re-
quest monetary payment or other valu-
able consideration in exchange either for
carriage of local television broadcast sta-
tions in fulfillment of the requirements of
this subsection or for channel positioning
rights provided to such stations under
this subsection, except that any such sta-
tion may be required to bear the costs as-
sociated with delivering a good quality
signal to the designated local receive fa-
cility of the satellite carrier.
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‘‘(5) REMEDIES.—
‘‘(A) COMPLAINTS
BY
BROADCAST
STATIONS.—Whenever 
a 
local 
tele-
vision broadcast station believes that
a satellite carrier has failed to meet
its obligations under this subsection,
such station shall notify the carrier,
in writing, of the alleged failure and
identify its reasons for believing that
the satellite carrier is obligated to
carry upon request the signal of such
station or has otherwise failed to
comply with other requirements of
this subsection. The satellite carrier
shall, within 30 days of such written
notification, respond in writing to
such notification and either begin
carrying the signal of such station in
accordance with the terms requested
or state its reasons for believing that
it is not obligated to carry such signal
or is in compliance with other re-
quirements of this subsection, as the
case may be. A local television broad-
cast station that is denied carriage in
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accordance with this subsection by a
satellite 
carrier 
or 
is 
otherwise
harmed by a response by a satellite
carrier that it is in compliance with
other requirements of this subsection
may obtain review of such denial or
response by filing a complaint with
the Register of Copyrights. Such com-
plaint shall allege the manner in
which such satellite carrier has failed
to meet its obligations and the basis
for such allegations.
‘‘(B) OPPORTUNITY
TO
RESPOND.—
The Register shall afford the satellite
carrier against which a complaint is
filed under subparagraph (A) an op-
portunity to present data and argu-
ments to establish that there has
been no failure to meet its obligations
under this subsection.
‘‘(C) REMEDIAL
ACTIONS; 
DISMIS-
SAL.—Within 120 days after the date a
complaint is filed under subpara-
graph (A), the Register shall deter-
mine whether the satellite carrier has
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met its obligations under this chap-
ter. If the Register determines that
the satellite carrier has failed to meet
such obligations, the Register shall
order the satellite carrier, in the case
of an obligation to carry a station, to
begin carriage of the station and to
continue such carriage for at least 12
months, or, in the case of the failure
to meet other obligations under this
subsection, shall take other appro-
priate remedial action. If the Register
determines that the satellite carrier
has fully met the requirements of this
chapter, the Register shall dismiss
the complaint.
‘‘(6) REGULATIONS
BY
REGISTER
OF
COPYRIGHTS.—Within 180 days after the
effective date of this section, the Register
of Copyrights shall, following a rule-
making proceeding, issue regulations im-
plementing the requirements imposed by
this subsection.
‘‘(l) RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.—
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‘‘(1) 
RETRANSMISSION
CONSENT
RE-
QUIRED.—No satellite carrier shall re-
transmit the signal of a television broad-
cast station, or any part thereof, except—
‘‘(A) with the express authority of
the station; or
‘‘(B) pursuant to subsection (k) of
this section, in the case of a station
electing, in accordance with this sub-
section, to assert the right to carriage
under such subsection.
‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The provisions of
this subsection shall not apply to—
‘‘(A) retransmission of the signal
of a noncommercial television broad-
cast station;
‘‘(B) retransmission of the signal
of a superstation by a satellite carrier
to subscribers for private home view-
ing if the originating station was a
superstation on May 1, 1991, and on
December 31, 1997, such station was a
network station and its signal was re-
transmitted by a satellite carrier di-
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rectly to at least 500,000 subscribers
for private home viewing; or
‘‘(C) retransmission of the signal
of a television broadcast station that
is owned or operated by, or affiliated
with, a broadcasting network directly
to a home satellite antenna, if the
household receiving the signal is an
unserved household.
‘‘(3) PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—
Within 45 days after the effective date of
the Copyright Compulsory License Im-
provement Act of 1998, the Register of
Copyrights shall commence a rulemaking
proceeding to promulgate regulations
governing 
the 
exercise 
by 
television
broadcast stations of the right to grant
retransmission consent under this sub-
section, and such other regulations as are
necessary to administer the limitation
contained in paragraph (2). Such regula-
tions shall establish election time periods
that correspond with those regulations
adopted under subparagraph (B) of sec-
tion 325(b)(3) of the Communications Act
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of 1934. The rulemaking shall be com-
pleted within 180 days after the effective
date of the Copyright Compulsory Li-
cense Improvement Act of 1998.
‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.— In this section:
‘‘(1) DESIGNATED
MARKET
AREA.—The
term ‘designated market area’ means a
designated market area, as determined
by the Nielsen Media Research and pub-
lished in the DMA Market and Demo-
graphic Report.
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘distribu-
tor’ 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 pro-
gramming, provides the secondary trans-
mission either directly to individual sub-
scribers or indirectly through other pro-
gram distribution entities.
‘‘(3) LOCAL MARKET.—(A) In the case of
both commercial and noncommercial tel-
evision broadcast stations, the term ‘local
market’ means the designated market
area in which a station is located.
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‘‘(B) In the case of a commercial tele-
vision broadcast station, all commercial
television broadcast stations licensed to a
community within the same designated
market area are within the same local
market.
‘‘(C) Following a written request, the
Register of Copyrights may, with respect
to a particular local market, include addi-
tional commercial television broadcast
stations to better effectuate the purposes
of this section. In considering such a re-
quest, the Register shall primarily con-
sider evidence of historic viewing pat-
terns within the local market concerned.
The Register may determine that particu-
lar commercial television broadcast sta-
tions serve more than one local market
‘‘(D) In the case of a noncommercial
educational television broadcast station,
the local market includes any station that
is licensed to a community within the
same designated market area as the non-
commercial educational television broad-
cast station.
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‘‘(4) 
LOCAL
RECEIVE
FACILITY.—The
term ‘local receive facility’ means the re-
ception point in the local market of a tel-
evision broadcast station or in a market
contiguous to the local market of a tele-
vision broadcast station at which a sat-
ellite carrier initially receives the signal
of the station for purposes of trans-
mission of such signals to the facility
which uplinks the signals to the carrier’s
satellites for secondary transmission to
the satellite carrier’s subscribers. The
designation of a local receive facility by a
satellite carrier shall not be used to un-
dermine or evade the carriage require-
ments imposed by this chapter.
‘‘(5) 
SUBSCRIBER.—The 
term 
‘sub-
scriber’ means an entity that receives a
secondary transmission service by means
of a secondary transmission from a sat-
ellite and pays a fee for the service, di-
rectly or indirectly, to the satellite car-
rier or to a distributor.
‘‘(6) TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION.—
The term ‘television broadcast station’
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means an over-the-air commercial or non-
commercial television broadcast station
licensed by the Federal Communications
Commission under subpart E of part 73 of
title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, as
such regulations are in effect on August
4, 1998, and as they may be amended
thereafter.
‘‘(7) 
SATELLITE
CARRIER, 
ETC.—The
terms ‘private home viewing’, ‘satellite
carrier’, ‘secondary transmission’, ‘super-
station’, and ‘unserved household’ have
the meanings given such terms in section
119(d).’’.
(b) STANDING TO SUE FOR SATELLITE CAR-
RIER FAILURE TO CARRY ALL LOCAL TELEVISION
BROADCAST STATIONS.—Section 501 of title 17,
United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(f) With respect to any satellite carrier
making a secondary transmission of a pri-
mary transmission made by a television
broadcast station to subscribers located with-
in the local market of such station that fails
to carry all television broadcast stations lo-
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cated within that market as required by sec-
tion 122, any station that has not given re-
transmission consent and is improperly de-
nied carriage shall have standing to bring a
copyright infringement action with respect to
the unauthorized performance or display of
works embodied in the secondary trans-
mission.
‘‘(g) With respect to any secondary trans-
mission that is made by a satellite carrier of
a primary transmission embodying the per-
formance or display of a work and that is ac-
tionable as an act of infringement under sec-
tion 122, a television broadcast station hold-
ing a copyright or other license to transmit or
perform the same version of that work shall,
for purposes of subsection (b) of this section,
be treated as a legal or beneficial owner of
that work if such secondary transmission oc-
curs within the local market of that station.
For purposes of this subsection and sub-
section (f), the definitions contained in sec-
tion 122 of this title apply.’’.
(c) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES FOR FAILURE BY
SATELLITE CARRIERS TO CARRY ALL LOCAL TEL-
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EVISION BROADCAST STATIONS.—Chapter 5 of
title 17, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
‘‘§ 512. Remedies for failure by satellite carriers to
carry all local broadcast stations
‘‘(a) In any action filed pursuant to section
122(j), the following remedies shall be avail-
able:
‘‘(1) If the action is brought by a
party identified in subsection (b) of sec-
tion 501, the remedies provided by sec-
tions 502 through 505, and the remedy
provided by subsection (b) of this section.
‘‘(2) If an action is brought by a tele-
vision broadcast station identified in sub-
section (f) of section 501, the remedies
provided by sections 502 and 505, to-
gether with any actual damages suffered
by such station as a result of the infringe-
ment, and the remedy provided by sub-
section (b) of this section.
‘‘(b) In any action filed pursuant to sec-
tion 122(j) of this title in which carriage of a
television broadcast station has been improp-
erly denied, the court shall decree that the
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to a particular television network, means
a household that cannot receive, through
the use of a conventional outdoor rooftop
receiving antenna, an over-the-air signal
of grade B intensity (as defined by the
Federal Communications Commission) of
a primary network station affiliated with
that network.’’.
SEC. 5. PUBLIC BROADCASTING SERVICE SATELLITE FEED;
APPLICATION 
OF 
FEDERAL 
COMMUNICA-
TIONS COMMISSION REGULATIONS.
(a) SECONDARY
TRANSMISSIONS.—Section
119(a) of title 17, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking the paragraph
heading and inserting ‘‘(1) SUPERSTA-
TIONS AND PBS SATELLITE FEED.—’’;
(B) by inserting ‘‘or by the Public
Broadcasting Service satellite feed’’
after ‘‘superstation’’; and
(C) by inserting ‘‘is permissible
under the rules, regulations, or au-
thorizations of the Federal Commu-
nications Commission,’’ after ‘‘sat-
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ellite carrier to the public for private
home viewing,’’; and
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘is
permissible under the rules, regulations,
or authorizations of the Federal Commu-
nications Commission,’’ after ‘‘satellite
carrier to the public for private home
viewing,’’.
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 119(d) of title 17,
United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
‘‘(12) PUBLIC
BROADCASTING
SERVICE
SATELLITE FEED.—The term ‘Public Broad-
casting Service satellite feed’ means the
national satellite feed distributed by the
Public Broadcasting Service, consisting
of educational and informational pro-
gramming intended for private home
viewing, to which the Public Broadcast-
ing Service holds national terrestrial
broadcast rights.’’.
SEC. 6. TEMPORARY STAY OF SATELLITE ROYALTY FEE IN-
CREASE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Copyright Office shall not before De-
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cember 31, 1999, implement, enforce, collect,
or award copyright royalty fees pursuant to
the decision of the Librarian of Congress on
October 28, 1997, which established a royalty
fee of $0.27 per subscriber per month for the
retransmission of distant broadcast signals by
satellite carriers, and no obligation or liabil-
ity for copyright royalty fees shall accrue be-
fore December 31, 1999, pursuant to that deci-
sion. This section shall not affect implement-
ing, enforcing, collecting, or awarding copy-
right royalty fees pursuant to the royalty fee
structure affected by the decision, as it ex-
isted prior to October 28, 1997.
SEC. ø3.¿ 7. DIRECT-TO-HOME SATELLITE PIRACY PREVEN-
TION.
Section 705(d)(6) of the Communications Act of 1934
(47 U.S.C. 605(d)(6)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or direct-
to-home satellite services (as defined in section 303(v))’’
after ‘‘satellite cable programming’’.
øSEC. 4. STAY PENDING COMPLETION OF INQUIRY.
øDuring the period beginning January 1, 1998, and
ending 275 days after the submission of the report required
by section 623(o) of the Communications Act of 1934 (as
added by section 2 of this Act), no officer or employee of
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the United States shall take any action to implement or
enforce, and no obligation or liability shall accrue pursuant
to, the differential fee decision described in paragraph (4)
of such section.¿
Amend the title so as to read ‘‘A bill to provide for
statutory copyright licensing of secondary transmissions
by satellite carriers of primary transmissions of television
broadcast stations within the local markets of such sta-
tions, and for other purposes.’’.