[Federal Register: December 30, 1994]
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Copyright Office
37 CFR Part 201
[Docket No. RM 86-7B]
Cable Compulsory License; Definition of Cable System
AGENCY: Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
ACTION: Amendment of cable license regulation.
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SUMMARY: The Copyright Office is repealing the provision of its
regulations regarding the eligibility of multipoint distribution
service and multichannel multipoint distribution service operators for
compulsory licensing under section 111 of the Copyright Act, and is
amending other regulatory provisions necessitated by the Satellite Home
Viewer Act of 1994.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn J. Kretsinger, Acting General
Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400, Southwest Station,
Washington, D.C. 20024. Telephone: (202) 707-8380. Telefax: (202) 707-
8366.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 18, 1994, the President signed
into law the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 (1994 Home Viewer Act).
Public Law 103-369, 108 Stat. 3477. The 1994 Home Viewer Act extends
the Copyright Act's section 119 compulsory license for satellite
carriers another five years, until December 31, 1999, and amends the
section 111 cable compulsory license definitions of a ``cable system''
and the ``local service area of a primary transmitter.'' These
legislative amendments to the Copyright Act require certain changes in
Subchapter A, Part 201 of the Copyright Office's regulations, 37 C.F.R.
Definition of a Cable System--Wireless Cable Systems
The 1994 Home Viewer Act amends the definition of a ``cable
system'' in the section 111 cable compulsory license to include what
are known as ``wireless'' cable systems. ``Wireless'' cable operators,
which provide video retransmission in the Multipoint Distribution
Service (MDS) and the Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service
(MMDS), are eligible for section 111 compulsory licensing for the
broadcast signals that they retransmit to their subscribers.
By clarifying the section 111(f) definition of a ``cable system''
to include ``wireless'' cable operators, the 1994 Home Viewer Act
expressly overruled a prior decision of the Copyright Office that
``wireless'' cable operators did not come within the section 111(f)
definition. On January 29, 1992, the Office concluded its inquiry into
the definition of a ``cable system'' in Docket No. 86-7B and issued a
regulation denying both ``wireless'' cable operators and satellite
carriers eligibility for the cable compulsory license. 57 FR 3284
(1992). This regulation added a new subsection (k) to section 201.17 of
the Office's rules, the pertinent part of which provided:
Satellite Carriers and MMDS Not Eligible
Satellite carriers, satellite resale carriers, multipoint
distribution services, and multichannel multipoint distribution
services are not eligible for the cable compulsory license based upon
an interpretation of the whole of section 111 of title 17 of the United
States Code.
Subsequent to the issuance of this regulation, the Copyright Office
delayed its effective date until January 1, 1995. 58 FR 40363 (July 28,
1993).
In light of the 1994 Home Viewer Act change to the ``cable system''
definition, the Office is amending Sec. 201.17(k) to conform to the law
and will treat ``wireless'' cable operators as being eligible for the
cable compulsory license since January 1, 1978, the effective date of
the Copyright Act and section 111. Satellite carriers, however,
continue to remain ineligible for the section 111 license and the
regulation is revised to notify satellite carriers when they may
request a refund of royalties submitted to the Copyright Office under
section 111.
Local Service Area of a Primary Transmitter
The other change to the cable compulsory license made by the 1994
Home Viewer Act is the broadening of the section 111(f) definition of
the ``local service area of a primary transmitter.'' The definition is
used to determine when a broadcast station is local or distant to a
cable operator, which in turn determines whether the operator must pay
a royalty fee for that station. Effective July 1, 1994, the local
service area of a broadcast station for copyright purposes also
includes the area in which the station is entitled to insist upon
carriage of its signal by a cable system (i.e. its must-carry zone), in
accordance with the rules of the Federal Communications Commission in
effect on September 18, 1993, and any subsequent modification of those
rules.
Satellite Carriers
Section 201.11(a) and (b) are amended to reflect passage of the
1994 Home Viewer Act, including the royalty rate and the definitional
changes to section 119 of the Copyright Act.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Cable systems, satellite carriers, compulsory license.
Proposed Regulation
In consideration of the foregoing, part 201 of title 37, Code of
Federal Regulations, is amended as follows:
PART 201--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 201 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
Sec. 201.11 [Amended]
2. Section 201.11 is amended by removing ``100-667'' every place it
appears and adding ``103-369''.
3. Section 201.11(e)(6) is amended by removing ``twelve (12) cents
per subscriber'' and adding ``17.5 cents per subscriber, or in the case
of syndex-proof superstations as defined in 37 CFR 258.2, 14 cents''.
4. Section 201.11(e)(7) is amended by removing ``three (3)'' and
adding ``six (6)''.
Sec. 201.17 [Amended]
5. Section 201.17(a) is amended by removing ``, as amended by Pub.
L. 94-553,''.
6. Section 201.17(b)(2) is amended in the first sentence by adding
``microwave,'' after ``cables,''; by removing ``Notices required to be
recorded by this section, and the''; and by removing ``: (i) On the
date of recordation with the Copyright Office, in the case of the
preparation and filing of an Initial Notice of Identity and Signal
Carriage Complement or notice of Change of Identity or Signal Carriage
Complement; or (ii)''.
6a. Section 201.17(b)(5) is amended by adding ``and Pub. L. 103-
369'' at the end of the sentence before the period.
7. Section 201.17(h)(1)(i) is amended by removing ``308.2(a)'' and
adding ``256.2(a)''.
7a. Section 201.17 in paragraphs (h)(1)(iii), (h)(2)(i), and
(h)(3)(iii)(A) is amended by removing ``308.2(c)'' and adding
``256.2(c)''.
7b. Section 201.17(h)(9) is amended by removing ``308(c)(2)'' and
adding ``308.2(c)''.
8. Section 201.17(k) is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 201.17 Statements of account covering compulsory licenses for
secondary transmissions by cable systems.
* * * * *
(k) Satellite carriers not eligible. Satellite carriers and
satellite resale carriers are not eligible for the cable compulsory
license based upon an interpretation of the whole of section 111 of
title 17 of the United States Code. Any such entity who paid copyright
royalties into the Copyright Office in an attempt to comply with 17
U.S.C. 111 may obtain a refund of such royalties by submitting a
written request to the Chief, Licensing Division, Copyright Office,
Library of Congress, Washington DC 20557 no later than March 1, 1995.
Dated: December 22, 1994.
Marybeth Peters,
Register of Copyrights.
Approved:
James H. Billington,
The Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 94-32045 Filed 12-29-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410-30-P