[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1485 Referred in House (RFH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1485


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 20, 1994

               Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
To extend certain satellite carrier compulsory licenses, and for other 
                               purposes.

    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 Compulsory License 
Extension Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. STATUTORY LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.

    Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)(C)--
                    (A) by striking out ``90 days after the effective 
                date of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988, or'';
                    (B) by striking out ``whichever is later,'';
                    (C) by inserting ``name and'' after ``identifying 
                (by'' each place it appears; and
                    (D) by striking out ``, on or after the effective 
                date of the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988,'';
            (2) in subsection (a)(5)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (C) by striking out ``the 
                Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1988'' and inserting in 
                lieu thereof ``this section''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
                subparagraphs:
                    ``(D) Burden of proof.--In any action brought under 
                this subsection, the satellite carrier shall have the 
                burden of proof (in the case of a primary transmission 
                by a network station) that a subscriber is an unserved 
                household.
                    ``(E) Signal intensity measurement; loser pays.--
                            ``(i) Grade b contour.--(I) Within the 
                        Grade B Contour, upon a challenge by a network 
                        affiliate regarding whether a subscriber is an 
                        unserved household, the satellite carrier 
                        shall--
                                    ``(aa) deauthorize service to that 
                                household; or
                                    ``(bb) conduct a measurement of the 
                                signal intensity of the subscriber's 
                                household to determine whether the 
                                household is unserved.
                            ``(II) If the carrier conducts a signal 
                        intensity measurement under subclause (I) and 
                        the measurement indicates that--
                                    ``(aa) the household is not an 
                                unserved household, the carrier shall 
                                immediately deauthorize the service to 
                                that household; or
                                    ``(bb) the household is an unserved 
                                household, the affiliate challenging 
                                the service shall reimburse the carrier 
                                for the costs of the signal 
                                measurement, within 45 days after 
                                receipt of the measurement results and 
                                a statement of the costs.
                            ``(III)(aa) Notwithstanding subclause (II), 
                        a carrier may not be required to test in excess 
                        of 5 percent of the subscribers that have 
                        subscribed to service before the effective date 
                        of the Satellite Compulsory License Extension 
                        Act of 1994, within any market during a 
                        calendar year.
                            ``(bb) If a network affiliate challenges 
                        whether a subscriber is an unserved household 
                        in excess of the 5 percent of the subscribers 
                        within any market, the affiliate may conduct 
                        its own signal intensity measurement. If such 
                        measurement indicates that the household is not 
                        an unserved household, the carrier shall 
                        immediately deauthorize service to that 
                        household and reimburse the affiliate, within 
                        45 days after receipt of the measurement and a 
                        statement of costs.
                            ``(ii) Outside the grade b contour.--(I) 
                        Outside the Grade B Contour, if a network 
                        affiliate challenges whether a subscriber is an 
                        unserved household the affiliate shall conduct 
                        a signal intensity measurement of the 
                        subscriber's household to determine whether the 
                        household is unserved.
                            ``(II) If the affiliate conducts a signal 
                        intensity measurement under subclause (I) and 
                        the measurement indicates that--
                                    ``(aa) the household is not an 
                                unserved household, the affiliate shall 
                                forward the results to the carrier who 
                                shall immediately deauthorize service 
                                to the household, and reimburse the 
                                affiliate within 45 days after receipt 
                                of the results and a statement of the 
                                costs; or
                                    ``(bb) the household is an unserved 
                                household, the affiliate shall pay the 
                                costs of the measurement.
                            ``(iii) Recovery of measurement costs in a 
                        civil action.--In any civil action filed 
                        relating to the eligibility of subscribing 
                        households, a challenging affiliate shall 
                        reimburse a carrier for any signal intensity 
                        measurement that indicates the household is an 
                        unserved household.'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(1)(B)--
                    (A) in clause (i) by striking out ``12 cents'' and 
                inserting in lieu thereof ``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 out ``3'' and 
                inserting in lieu thereof ``6'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in the heading for paragraph (1) by striking 
                out ``Determination'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
                ``Adjustment'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking out ``December 31, 1992, 
                        unless''; and
                            (ii) by striking out ``After that date,'' 
                        and inserting in lieu thereof ``All adjustments 
                        of'';
                    (C) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A) by striking out 
                        ``July 1, 1991,'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
                        ``January 1, 1996,''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D) by striking out 
                        ``until December 31, 1994'' and inserting in 
                        lieu thereof ``in accordance with the terms of 
                        the agreement''; and
                    (D) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking out ``December 
                31, 1991,'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``July 1, 
                1996,''; and
            (5) in subsection (d)--
                    (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) any noncommercial educational station, as 
                defined in section 111(f) of this title, that is a 
                member of the public broadcasting service.''; and
                    (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,''.

SEC. 3. CABLE COMPULSORY LICENSE.

    Section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``cable 
        system'' by striking out ``wires, cables'' and inserting in 
        lieu thereof ``wires, microwave, cables''; and
            (2) in the paragraph relating to the definition of ``local 
        service area of a primary transmitter''--
                    (A) by striking out ``comprises the area'' and 
                inserting in lieu thereof ``comprises either the 
                area''; and
                    (B) 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 subsequent modifications to such 
                television market made 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) Technical and 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 under subsection (b), the 
provisions of this Act and amendments made by this Act shall 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)(B) 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.

            Passed the Senate May 18 (legislative day, May 16), 1994.

            Attest:

                                                MARTHA S. POPE,

                                                             Secretary.