[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1103 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 385
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1103
[Report No. 103-703]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary
transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home
viewing, and with respect to cable systems.
_______________________________________________________________________
August 16, 1994
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
Union Calendar No. 385
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1103
[Report No. 103-703]
To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary
transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home
viewing, and with respect to cable systems.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 24, 1993
Mr. Hughes (for himself and Mr. Moorhead) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
August 16, 1994
Additional sponsors: Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Chapman, Mr.
Spratt, Mr. Oberstar, Mr. Stupak, Mr. Payne of New Jersey, Mr. Payne of
Virginia, Mr. Wise, and Mr. Williams
August 16, 1994
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on
February 24, 1993]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 17, United States Code, with respect to secondary
transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home
viewing, and with respect to cable systems.
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 Home Viewer Act of 1994''.
SEC. 2. STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.
Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a)(2)(C) is amended--
(A) by striking ``90 days after the effective date
of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988, or'';
(B) by striking ``whichever is later,'';
(C) by inserting ``name and'' after ``identifying
(by'' each place it appears; and
(D) by striking ``, on or after the effective date
of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988,''.
(2) Subsection (a)(5) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(D) Burden of proof.--In any action brought under
this paragraph, the satellite carrier shall have the
burden of proving that its secondary transmission of a
primary transmission by a network station is for
private home viewing to an unserved household.''.
(3) Subsection (b)(1)(B) is amended--
(A) in clause (i) by striking ``12 cents'' and
inserting ``17.5 cents per subscriber in the case of
superstations not subject to syndicated exclusivity
under the regulations of the Federal Communications
Commission, and 14 cents per subscriber in the case of
superstations subject to such syndicated exclusivity'';
and
(B) in clause (ii) by striking ``3'' and inserting
``6'';
(4) Subsection (c) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1) by striking ``December 31,
1992,'';
(B) in paragraph (2)--
(i) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``July
1, 1991'' and inserting ``January 1, 1996'';
and
(ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking
``December 31, 1994'' and inserting ``December
31, 1999, or in accordance with the terms of
the agreement, whichever is later'';
(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in subparagraph (A) by striking
``December 31, 1991'' and inserting ``July 1,
1996'';
(ii) by amending subparagraph (D) to read
as follows:
``(D) Establishment of fair market rates.--In
determining royalty fees under this paragraph, the
Arbitration Panel shall establish a rate, for the
secondary transmission of network stations and
superstations, that reflects the fair market value of
such secondary transmissions. The Arbitration Panel
shall base its decision upon economic, competitive, and
programming information presented by the parties, and
shall take into account the competitive environment in
which such programming is distributed.'';
(iii) in subparagraph (E) by striking
``60'' and inserting ``180''; and
(iv) in subparagraph (G) by striking ``, or
until December 31, 1994''.
(5) Subsection (a) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (5)(C) by striking ``the Satellite
Home Viewer Act of 1988'' and inserting ``this
section''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) Transitional signal intensity measurement
procedures.--
``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (C),
upon a challenge by a network station regarding whether
a subscriber is an unserved household within the
predicted Grade B Contour of the station, the satellite
carrier shall, within 60 days after the receipt of the
challenge--
``(i) terminate service to that household
of the signal that is the subject of the
challenge, and within 30 days thereafter notify
the network station that made the challenge
that service to that household has been
terminated; or
``(ii) conduct a measurement of the signal
intensity of the subscriber's household to
determine whether the household is an unserved
household.
``(B) Effect of measurement.--If the satellite
carrier conducts a signal intensity measurement under
subparagraph (A) and the measurement indicates that--
``(i) the household is not an unserved
household, the satellite carrier shall, within
60 days after the measurement is conducted,
terminate the service to that household of the
signal that is the subject of the challenge,
and within 30 days thereafter notify the
network station that made the challenge that
service to that household has been terminated;
or
``(ii) the household is an unserved
household, the station challenging the service
shall reimburse the satellite carrier for the
costs of the signal measurement within 60 days
after receipt of the measurement results and a
statement of the costs of the measurement.
``(C) Limitation on measurements.--(i)
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a satellite carrier
may not be required to conduct signal intensity
measurements during any calendar year in excess of 5
percent of the number of subscribers within the network
station's local market that have subscribed to the
service as of the effective date of the Satellite Home
Viewer Act of 1994.
``(ii) If a network station challenges whether a
subscriber is an unserved household in excess of 5
percent of the subscribers within the network's station
local market within a calendar year, subparagraph (A)
shall not apply to challenges in excess of such 5
percent, but the station may conduct its own signal
intensity measurement of the subscriber's household. If
such measurement indicates that the household is not an
unserved household, the carrier shall, within 60 days
after receipt of the measurement, terminate service to
the household of the signal that is the subject of the
challenge and within 30 days thereafter notify the
network station that made the challenge that service
has been terminated. The carrier shall also, within 60
days after receipt of the measurement and a statement
of the costs of the measurement, reimburse the network
station for the cost it incurred in conducting the
measurement.
``(D) Outside the predicted grade b contour.--(i)
If a network station challenges whether a subscriber is
an unserved household outside the predicted Grade B
Contour of the station, the station may conduct a
measurement of the signal intensity of the subscriber's
household to determine whether the household is an
unserved household.
``(ii) If the network station conducts a signal
intensity measurement under clause (i) and the
measurement indicates that--
``(I) the household is not an unserved
household, the station shall forward the
results to the satellite carrier who shall,
within 60 days after receipt of the
measurement, terminate the service to the
household of the signal that is the subject of
the challenge, and shall reimburse the station
for the costs of the measurement within 60 days
after receipt of the measurement results and a
statement of such costs; or
``(II) the household is an unserved
household, the station shall pay the costs of
the measurement.
``(9) Loser pays for signal intensity measurement; recovery
of measurement costs in a civil action.--In any civil action
filed relating to the eligibility of subscribing households as
unserved households--
``(A) a network station challenging such
eligibility shall reimburse the satellite carrier for
any signal intensity measurement that is conducted by
that carrier in response to a challenge by the network
station and that establishes the household is an
unserved household; and
``(B) a satellite carrier shall reimburse the
network station challenging such eligibility for any
signal intensity measurement that is conducted by that
station and that establishes the household is not an
unserved household.
``(10) Inability to conduct measurement.--If a network
station makes a reasonable attempt to conduct a site
measurement of its signal at a subscriber's household and is
denied access for the purpose of conducting the measurement,
the satellite carrier shall within 60 days notice thereof,
terminate service of the station's network to that
household.''.
(6) Subsection (d) is amended--
(A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) Network station.--The term `network station' means--
``(A) a television broadcast station, including any
translator station or terrestrial satellite station
that rebroadcasts all or substantially all of the
programming broadcast by a network station, that is
owned or operated by, or affiliated with, one or more
of the television networks in the United States which
offer an interconnected program service on a regular
basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 of
its affiliated television licensees in 10 or more
States; or
``(B) a noncommercial educational broadcast station
(as defined in section 397 of the Communications Act of
1934).'';
(B) in paragraph (6) by inserting ``and operates in
the Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47
of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Direct
Broadcast Satellite Service under part 100 of title 47
of the Code of Federal Regulations'' after
``Commission''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(11) Local market.--The term `local market' means the
area encompassed within a network station's predicted Grade B
contour as that contour is defined by the Federal
Communications Commission.''.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Cable System.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code,
is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``cable
system'' by inserting ``microwave,'' after ``wires, cables,''.
(b) Local Service Area.--Section 111(f) of title 17, United States
Code, is amended in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``local
service area of a primary transmitter'' by inserting after ``April 15,
1976,'' the following: ``or such station's television market as defined
in section 76.55(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in
effect on September 18, 1993), or any modifications to such television
market made, on or after September 18, 1993, pursuant to section
76.55(e) or 76.59 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations,''.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION.
(a) Expiration of Amendments.--Section 119 of title 17, United
States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act, ceases to be
effective on December 31, 1999.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 207 of the Satellite Home Viewer
Act of 1988 (17 U.S.C. 119 note) is repealed.
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsections (b) and (d),
this Act and the amendments made by this Act take effect on the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(b) Burden of Proof Provisions.--The provisions of section
119(a)(5)(D) of title 17, United States Code (as added by section 2(2)
of this Act) relating to the burden of proof of satellite carriers,
shall take effect on January 1, 1997, with respect to civil actions
relating to the eligibility of subscribers who subscribed to service as
an unserved household before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Transitional Signal Intensity Measurement Procedures.--The
provisions of section 119(a)(8) of title 17, United States Code (as
added by section 2(5) of this Act), relating to transitional signal
intensity measurements, shall cease to be effective on December 31,
1996.
(d) Local Service Area of a Primary Transmitter.--The amendment
made by section 3(b), relating to the definition of the local service
area of a primary transmitter, shall take effect on July 1, 1994.