**********************************************************
U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

April 29, 1999
Issue 44
**********************************************************

CONTENTS

* Legislative News *

H.R. 1554 Passes House, Amends Satellite Home Viewer Act

* To Subscribe/Unsubscribe to NewsNet *

**********************************************************
* LEGISLATIVE NEWS *

H.R. 1554 PASSES HOUSE; AMENDS SATELLITE HOME VIEWER ACT

H.R. 1554, the Satellite Copyright, Competition, and Consumer Protection Act of 1999, which was introduced by Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (R-La.) on April 26, passed the House on April 27 and was received in the Senate on April 28. It combines provisions of two previously reported bills, H.R. 1027, the Satellite Television Improvement Act, and H.R. 851, the Save Our Satellites Act of 1999.

Among its copyright provisions, the bill would make the following changes to the Satellite Home Viewer Act: It would reauthorize the satellite compulsory license for an additional 5 years, to expire Dec. 31, 2004. Former subscribers to a cable system would no longer have to wait 3 months to sign up for satellite service for network signals. The 27-cent royalty fee adopted by the Librarian of Congress last year would be reduced, effective July 1, 1999, by 30 percent (for superstations) and 45 percent (for network stations). Satellite carriers would also be permitted to rebroadcast a national signal of the Public Broadcasting Service. The currently scheduled shut-off of distant network service would be postponed until the FCC develops a new predictive model to more accurately determine who is entitled to receive distant network signals. The bill would also establish a new, royalty-free compulsory license permitting satellite carriers to retransmit a local television station to households within that station's local market, conditioned upon meeting requirements of the Communications Act.

The bill also includes a number of amendments to Communications Act relating to matters such as retransmission consent, must-carry obligations, and nonduplication of network programming.

**********************************************************
* TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE TO NEWSNET *

To subscribe

Send a message to: LISTSERV@RS8.loc.gov
In the body of the message, say: Subscribe USCopyright

To unsubscribe

Send a message to: LISTSERV@RS8.loc.gov
In the body of the message, say: Unsubscribe USCopyright