Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/04/25/2012-9927/determination-of-reasonable-rates-and-terms-for-noncommercial-broadcasting
Timestamp: 2016-04-29 16:01:27
Document Index: 747503188

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', 'art 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', 'art 381', 'ART 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381', '§ 381']

Federal Register | Determination of Reasonable Rates and Terms for Noncommercial Broadcasting
Dates: Comments and objections, if any, are due no later than May 25, 2012.
-24667 (6 pages)
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-9927 Related Topics
Section 118 of the Copyright Act, title 17 of the United States Code, establishes a statutory license for the use of certain copyrighted works in connection with noncommercial television and radio broadcasting. Chapter 8 of the Copyright Act requires the Copyright Royalty Judges (“Judges”) to conduct proceedings every five years to determine the rates and terms for the section 118 license.
17 U.S.C. 801(b)(1), 804(b)(6). In accordance with section 804(b)(6), the Judges commenced the proceeding to set rates and terms for the period 2008-2012 on January 9, 2006, 71 FR 1453, and published final regulations setting those rates and terms on November 30, 2007. 72 FR 67646. Therefore, the next proceeding to determine the rates and terms for the section 118 license was to be commenced in January 2011 for the period 2013-2017. 17 U.S.C. 804(b)(6).
Accordingly, the Judges published in the Federal Register a notice commencing the proceeding to determine the rates and terms for the 2013-2017 period and requesting interested parties to submit their petitions to participate. 76 FR 591 (January 5, 2011). Petitions to Participate were received from: The American Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers (“ASCAP”); SESAC, Inc.; Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”); Educational Media Foundation (“EMF”); Music Reports, Inc.; National Public Radio, the Public Broadcasting Service, and noncommercial radio and television stations eligible to receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting jointly (“NPR/PBS/CPB”); National Religious Broadcasters Noncommercial Music License Committee (“NRBNMLC”); the Church Music Publishers' Association; the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. and the Harry Fox Agency, jointly (“NMPA/HFA”); the Catholic Radio Association (“CRA”); and the American Council on Education (“ACE”). The Judges set the timetable for the three-month negotiation period, see 17 U.S.C. 803(b)(3), and directed the participants to submit their written direct statements no later than October 31, 2011. In response to the October 31 deadline, the Judges received written direct statements from CRA, BMI, ASCAP, and Music Reports, Inc.
as well as several notifications of settlement and proposed rates and terms for the Copyright Royalty Judges to adopt.
There are two ways that copyright owners and public broadcasting entities
may negotiate rates and terms under the section 118 statutory license. First, copyright owners may negotiate rates and terms with specific public broadcasting entities for the use of all of the copyright owners' works covered by the license. Section 118(b)(2) provides that such license agreements “shall be given effect in lieu of any determination by the * * * Copyright Royalty Judges,” provided that copies of the agreement are submitted to the Judges “within 30 days of execution.” 17 U.S.C. 118(b)(2). The Judges received several agreements in this category for which no further action is required.
17 U.S.C. 801(b)(7)(A). The Judges received seven proposals within this category from the following participants: (1) SESAC and ACE; (2) BMI and ACE; (3) ASCAP and ACE; (4) NMPA/HFA and NRBNMLC; (5) SESAC and NRBNMLC, (6) ASCAP and NRBNMLC; and (7) BMI and NRBNMLC.
ACE Joint Proposals Back to Top
The joint proposals entered into by ACE and each of SESAC, BMI, and ASCAP propose to modify the royalty rates set forth in § 381.5. The rates proposed in the ASCAP/ACE and BMI/ACE submissions reflect a change in both the fees and the fee structure, going from a flat rate to tiered rates primarily based on the number of full-time students enrolled in the educational entity operating the station, with an exception that looks to the college radio station's authorized effective radiation power (“ERP”) as set forth in its current FCC license. ASCAP/ACE Joint Proposal at 4; BMI/ACE Joint Proposal at 4. Moreover, the proposed rates for ASCAP and BMI eliminate the need for the historic annual Consumer Price Index adjustments, as the proposed rates increase at the rate of two percent per year. Id. at 5.
The SESAC/ACE submission retains a flat rate which is then adjusted, starting in 2014, by the change in the Consumer Price Index or two percent, whichever is greater. SESAC/ACE Joint Proposal at 2.
Each joint proposal proposes to require that each annual payment of the royalty rate be accompanied by a declaration stating the number of full-time students enrolled in the educational entity operating the station and/or the ERP as specified in the entity's current FCC license. See proposed § 381.5(d).
NRBNMLC Joint Proposals Back to Top
The joint proposals entered into by NRBNMLC and each of NMPA/HFA, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC propose carrying forward unchanged the current provisions set forth in §§ 381.1 (except to replace “2008” with “2013” and “2012” with “2017”), 381.2, 381.9, and 381.11.
The joint proposal between NMPA/HFA and NRBNMLC stated that the rates in § 381.7(b)(4) should remain the same as those currently set for 2008-2012, “subject to the additional provisions” of §§ 381.7(b)(3) and (5), since they “are reasonable” and “no circumstances exist that would warrant modification of these fees.” NMPA/HFA and NRBNMLC Joint Proposal at 2. The proposal also stated that separate negotiations were ongoing between HFA and NMPA and NPR and PBS with respect to provisions in § 381.7 other than § 381.7(b)(4). Id. at 2-3. When such proposal did not appear to be forthcoming, the Judges issued an order requesting in part that such proposal, if finalized, be submitted by March 16, 2012, in order to allow for publication of all proposed rates and terms in a single document. See Order Regarding Submission of Settlement Proposals, Docket No. 2011-2 CRB NCEB II (February 2, 2012); see also n.5. However, after receiving no responsive filings, the Judges issued a subsequent order requiring HFA, NMPA, NPR, and PBS to show cause why the provisions to be covered by their separate proposal (§§ 381.7(b)(1)(i)-(iii), 381.7(b)(2)(i)-(iv), 381.7(c), 381.7(d), and 381.7(e)) should not be removed from Part 381. See Order to Show Cause, Docket No. 2011-2 CRB NCEB II (March 28, 2012). In response, HFA, NMPA, NPR and PBS submitted their joint proposal covering the provisions specified in the March 28 order. Specifically, they proposed that the rates set forth in §§ 381.7(b)(1) and (2) “be changed to reflect a rate increase consistent with the prior percentage increase from the 2003-2007 license period to the 2008-2012 license period” as such increase “is fair and reasonable.” Response to Order to Show Cause, and Joint Proposal of the Harry Fox Agency, Inc., National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., National Public Radio, Inc. and Public Broadcasting Service, at 3 (April 4, 2012). These parties proposed no changes to §§ 381.7(c)-(e) and requested that these provisions be carried forward as is because they “are fair and reasonable in that they facilitate efficient, consistent and accurate payments of royalties for uses governed by [§ ] 381.7.”Id. at 4.
Each of the joint proposals between NRBNMLC and ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC propose modifications to § 381.6. Under the proposals, alternatives have been provided to a Religious/Community Noncommercial Radio Station in determining its Population Count which is the basis of the rates paid. In addition, the proposals include a new reduced rate for a Religious/Community Noncommercial Radio Station using a talk format necessitating a number of newly defined terms. Finally, the proposals address a Religious/Community Noncommercial Radio Station's broadcast of in-band, on-channel, digital radio (“HD Radio”) signals.
Finally, the Judges have removed and reserved two sections for which no proposals were submitted. Specifically, § 381.4, which governed performance of musical compositions by PBS, NPR and other public broadcasting entities engaged in the activities of 17 U.S.C. 118(c), and § 381.8, which governed the terms and rates of royalty payments for the use of published pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works in PBS-distributed programs as well as in other than PBS-distributed programs, have been removed and their section numbers reserved.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 381 Back to Top
PART 381—USE OF CERTAIN COPYRIGHTED WORKS IN CONNECTION WITH NONCOMMERCIAL EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING Back to Top
§ 381.4 [Removed and Reserved]
3. Remove and reserve § 381.4.
(i) Number of full-time students
2,000,000-2,499,999
2,500,000-2,999,999
The revisions to § 381.7 read as follows:
§ 381.8 [Removed and Reserved]
7. Remove and reserve § 381.8.
The revisions to § 381.10 read as follows:
(b) On the same date of the notices published pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the Copyright Royalty Judges shall publish in the Federal Register a revised schedule of the rates for § 381.5(c)(3), the rate to be charged for compositions in the repertory of SESAC, which shall adjust the royalty amounts established in a dollar amount according to the greater of
5. The proposed elimination of the CPI adjustments for ASCAP and BMI necessitated a change to § 381.10. However, no proposed language was provided with the initial proposals. Consequently, the Judges issued an order requesting proposed language to § 381.10, and the parties provided the same. See Order
Regarding Submission of Settlement Proposals, Docket No. 2011-3 CRB NCEB II (February 2, 2012). See also Joint Submission of American Council on Education, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Broadcast Music, Inc., and SESAC, Inc. (filed March 16, 2012).