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Calendar No. 93
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1554
_______________________________________________________________________
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 broadcast signals by satellite.
_______________________________________________________________________
April 28, 1999
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
Calendar No. 93
106th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1554
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 28, 1999
Received; read twice and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
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 broadcast signals by satellite.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Satellite Copyright, Competition,
and Consumer Protection Act of 1999''.
TITLE I--SATELLITE COMPETITION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``Satellite Competition and Consumer
Protection Act''.
SEC. 102. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.
Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b))
is amended--
(1) by amending paragraphs (1) and (2) to read as follows:
``(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming
distributor shall retransmit the signal of a television broadcast
station, or any part thereof, except--
``(A) with the express authority of the originating
station;
``(B) pursuant to section 614, in the case of a station
electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the
right to carriage under such section; or
``(C) pursuant to section 338, in the case of a station
electing, in accordance with this subsection, to assert the
right to carriage under such section.
``(2) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply--
``(A) to retransmission of the signal of a noncommercial
television broadcast station;
``(B) to retransmission of the signal of a television
broadcast station outside the station's local market by a
satellite carrier directly to its subscribers, if--
``(i) such station was a superstation on May 1,
1991;
``(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was
retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the
statutory license of section 119 of title 17, United
States Code; and
``(iii) the satellite carrier complies with all
network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity, and
sports blackout rules adopted by the Commission
pursuant to section 712 of this Act;
``(C) until 7 months after the date of enactment of the
Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act, to
retransmission of the signal of a television network station
directly to a satellite antenna, if the subscriber receiving
the signal is located in an area outside the local market of
such station; or
``(D) to retransmission by a cable operator or other
multichannel video provider, other than a satellite carrier, of
the signal of a television broadcast station outside the
station's local market if such signal was obtained from a
satellite carrier and--
``(i) the originating station was a superstation on
May 1, 1991; and
``(ii) as of July 1, 1998, such station was
retransmitted by a satellite carrier under the
statutory license of section 119 of title 17, United
States Code.'';
(2) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) Within 45 days after the date of enactment of the Satellite
Competition and Consumer Protection Act, the Commission shall commence
a rulemaking proceeding to revise the regulations governing the
exercise by television broadcast stations of the right to grant
retransmission consent under this subsection, and such other
regulations as are necessary to administer the limitations contained in
paragraph (2). The Commission shall complete all actions necessary to
prescribe such regulations within one year after such date of
enactment. Such regulations shall--
``(i) establish election time periods that correspond with
those regulations adopted under subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph; and
``(ii) until January 1, 2006, prohibit television broadcast
stations that provide retransmission consent from engaging in
discriminatory practices, understandings, arrangements, and
activities, including exclusive contracts for carriage, that
prevent a multichannel video programming distributor from
obtaining retransmission consent from such stations.'';
(3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following
new sentence: ``If an originating television station elects
under paragraph (3)(C) to exercise its right to grant
retransmission consent under this subsection with respect to a
satellite carrier, the provisions of section 338 shall not
apply to the carriage of the signal of such station by such
satellite carrier.'';
(4) in paragraph (5), by striking ``614 or 615'' and
inserting ``338, 614, or 615''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) For purposes of this subsection, the term `television
broadcast station' means an over-the-air commercial or noncommercial
television broadcast station licensed by the Commission under subpart E
of part 73 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, except that such
term does not include a low-power or translator television station.''.
SEC. 103. MUST-CARRY FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS RETRANSMITTING TELEVISION
BROADCAST SIGNALS.
Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting
after section 337 (47 U.S.C. 337) the following new section:
``SEC. 338. CARRIAGE OF LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS BY SATELLITE CARRIERS.
``(a) Carriage Obligations.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to the limitations of paragraph
(2), each satellite carrier 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 television broadcast
stations located within that local market, subject to section
325(b), by retransmitting the signal or signals of such
stations that are identified by Commission regulations for
purposes of this section.
``(2) Effective date.--No satellite carrier shall be
required to carry local television broadcast stations under
paragraph (1) until January 1, 2002.
``(b) Good Signal Required.--
``(1) Costs.--A television broadcast 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.
``(2) Regulations.--The regulations issued under subsection
(g) shall set forth the obligations necessary to carry out this
subsection.
``(c) Duplication Not Required.--
``(1) Commercial stations.--Notwithstanding subsection (a),
a satellite carrier shall not be required to carry upon request
the signal of any local commercial television broadcast station
that substantially duplicates the signal of another local
commercial television broadcast station which is secondarily
transmitted by the satellite carrier within the same local
market, or to carry upon request the signals of more than 1
local commercial television broadcast station in a single local
market that is affiliated with a particular television network.
``(2) Noncommercial stations.--The Commission shall
prescribe regulations limiting the carriage requirements under
subsection (a) of satellite carriers with respect to the
carriage of multiple local noncommercial television broadcast
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 local television broadcast 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 local
television broadcast stations to subscribers in the stations' local
market on contiguous 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 local television broadcast 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 local
television broadcast station believes that a satellite carrier
has failed to meet its obligations under this section, 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 section. 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 requirements of this
section, as the case may be. A local television broadcast
station that is denied carriage in accordance with this section
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 section 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 this chapter. If the Commission
determines that the satellite carrier has failed to meet such
obligations, the Commission 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 section, shall take other appropriate
remedial action. If the Commission determines that the
satellite carrier has fully met the requirements of this
chapter, the Commission shall dismiss the complaint.
``(g) Regulations by Commission.--Within 180 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Commission shall, following a rulemaking
proceeding, issue regulations implementing this section.
``(h) Definitions.--As used in this section:
``(1) Subscriber.--The term `subscriber' means a person
that receives a secondary transmission service by means of a
secondary transmission from a satellite and pays a fee for the
service, directly or indirectly, to the satellite carrier or to
a distributor.
``(2) Distributor.--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 distribution entities.
``(3) Local receive facility.--The term `local receive
facility' means the reception point in each local market which
a satellite carrier designates for delivery of the signal of
the station for purposes of retransmission.
``(4) Television broadcast station.--The term `television
broadcast station' has the meaning given such term in section
325(b)(7).
``(5) Secondary transmission.--The term `secondary
transmission' has the meaning given such term in section 119(d)
of title 17, United States Code.''.
SEC. 104. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROADCAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.
Section 712 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 612) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 712. NONDUPLICATION OF PROGRAMMING BROADCAST BY LOCAL STATIONS.
``(a) Extension of Network Nonduplication, Syndicated Exclusivity,
and Sports Blackout to Satellite Retransmission.--Within 45 days after
the date of enactment of the Satellite Competition and Consumer
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