U.S.A. Copyright Law, Library of Congress. Copyright Office [reading diary TXT] 📗

space radio wave emitted by such broadcast

television station, unless prior to April 15, 1976, such cable system

was actually carrying, or was specifically authorized to carry, the

signal of such foreign station on the system pursuant to the rules,

regulations, or authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission.

(d) Statutory License for Secondary Transmissions by Cable Systems. [43]

(1) A cable system whose secondary transmissions have been subject to

statutory licensing under subsection (c) shall, on a semiannual basis,

deposit with the Register of Copyrights, in accordance with requirements

that the Register shall prescribe by regulation-

(A) a statement of account, covering the six months next preceding,

specifying the number of channels on which the cable system made

secondary transmissions to its subscribers, the names and locations of

all primary transmitters whose transmissions were further transmitted by

the cable system, the total number of subscribers, the gross amounts

paid to the cable system for the basic service of providing secondary

transmissions of primary broadcast transmitters, and such other data as

the Register of Copyrights may from time to time prescribe by

regulation. In determining the total number of subscribers and the gross

amounts paid to the cable system for the basic service of providing

secondary transmissions of primary broadcast transmitters, the cable

system shall not include subscribers and amounts collected from

subscribers receiving secondary transmissions for private home viewing

pursuant to section 119. Such statement shall also include a special

statement of account covering any nonnetwork television programming that

was carried by the cable system in whole or in part beyond the local

service area of the primary transmitter, under rules, regulations, or

authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission permitting the

substitution or addition of signals under certain circumstances,

together with logs showing the times, dates, stations, and programs

involved in such substituted or added carriage; and

(B) except in the case of a cable system whose royalty is specified in

subclause (C) or (D), a total royalty fee for the period covered by the

statement, computed on the basis of specified percentages of the gross

receipts from subscribers to the cable service during said period for

the basic service of providing secondary transmissions of primary

broadcast transmitters, as follows:

(i) 0.675 of 1 per centum of such gross receipts for the privilege of

further transmitting any nonnetwork programming of a primary transmitter

in whole or in part beyond the local service area of such primary

transmitter, such amount to be applied against the fee, if any, payable

pursuant to paragraphs (ii) through (iv);

(ii) 0.675 of 1 per centum of such gross receipts for the first distant

signal equivalent;

(iii) 0.425 of 1 per centum of such gross receipts for each of the

second, third, and fourth distant signal equivalents;

(iv) 0.2 of 1 per centum of such gross receipts for the fifth distant

signal equivalent and each additional distant signal equivalent

thereafter; and

in computing the amounts payable under paragraph (ii) through (iv),

above, any fraction of a distant signal equivalent shall be computed at

its fractional value and, in the case of any cable system located partly

within and partly without the local service area of a primary

transmitter, gross receipts shall be limited to those gross receipts

derived from subscribers located without the local service area of such

primary transmitter; and

(C) if the actual gross receipts paid by subscribers to a cable system

for the period covered by the statement for the basic service of

providing secondary transmissions of primary broadcast transmitters

total $80,000 or less, gross receipts of the cable system for the

purpose of this subclause shall be computed by subtracting from such

actual gross receipts the amount by which $80,000 exceeds such actual

gross receipts, except that in no case shall a cable system's gross

receipts be reduced to less than $3,000. The royalty fee payable under

this subclause shall be 0.5 of 1 per centum, regardless of the number of

distant signal equivalents, if any; and

(D) if the actual gross receipts paid by subscribers to a cable system

for the period covered by the statement, for the basic service of

providing secondary transmissions of primary broadcast transmitters, are

more than $80,000 but less than $160,000, the royalty fee payable under

this subclause shall be

(i) 0.5 of 1 per centum of any gross receipts up to $80,000; and

(ii) 1 per centum of any gross receipts in excess of $80,000 but less

than $160,000, regardless of the number of distant signal equivalents,

if any.

(2) The Register of Copyrights shall receive all fees deposited under

this section and, after deducting the reasonable costs incurred by the

Copyright Office under this section, shall deposit the balance in the

Treasury of the United States, in such manner as the Secretary of the

Treasury directs. All funds held by the Secretary of the Treasury shall

be invested in interest-bearing United States securities for later

distribution with interest by the Librarian of Congress in the event no

controversy over distribution exists, or by a copyright arbitration

royalty panel in the event a controversy over such distribution exists.

(3) The royalty fees thus deposited shall, in accordance with the

procedures provided by clause (4), be distributed to those among the

following copyright owners who claim that their works were the subject

of secondary transmissions by cable systems during the relevant

semiannual period:

(A) any such owner whose work was included in a secondary transmission

made by a cable system of a nonnetwork television program in whole or in

part beyond the local service area of the primary transmitter; and

(B) any such owner whose work was included in a secondary transmission

identified in a special statement of account deposited under clause (1)

(A); and

(C) any such owner whose work was included in nonnetwork programming

consisting exclusively of aural signals carried by a cable system in

whole or in part beyond the local service area of the primary

transmitter of such programs.

(4) The royalty fees thus deposited shall be distributed in accordance

with the following procedures:

(A) During the month of July in each year, every person claiming to be

entitled to statutory license fees for secondary transmissions shall

file a claim with the Librarian of Congress, in accordance with

requirements that the Librarian of Congress shall prescribe by

regulation. Notwithstanding any provisions of the antitrust laws, for

purposes of this clause any claimants may agree among themselves as to

the proportionate division of statutory licensing fees among them, may

lump their claims together and file them jointly or as a single claim,

or may designate a common agent to receive payment on their behalf.

(B) After the first day of August of each year, the Librarian of

Congress shall, upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights,

determine whether there exists a controversy concerning the distribution

of royalty fees. If the Librarian determines that no such controversy

exists, the Librarian shall, after deducting reasonable administrative

costs under this section, distribute such fees to the copyright owners

entitled to such fees, or to their designated agents. If the Librarian

finds the existence of a controversy, the Librarian shall, pursuant to

chapter 8 of this title, convene a copyright arbitration royalty panel

to determine the distribution of royalty fees.

(C) During the pendency of any proceeding under this subsection, the

Librarian of Congress shall withhold from distribution an amount

sufficient to satisfy all claims with respect to which a controversy

exists, but shall have discretion to proceed to distribute any amounts

that are not in controversy.

(e) Nonsimultaneous Secondary Transmissions by Cable Systems.-

(1) Notwithstanding those provisions of the second paragraph of

subsection (f) relating to nonsimultaneous secondary transmissions by a

cable system, any such transmissions are actionable as an act of

infringement under section 501, and are fully subject to the remedies

provided by sections 502 through 506 and sections 509 and 510, unless

(A) the program on the videotape is transmitted no more than one time to

the cable system's subscribers; and

(B) the copyrighted program, episode, or motion picture videotape,

including the commercials contained within such program, episode, or

picture, is transmitted without deletion or editing; and

(C) an owner or officer of the cable system

(i) prevents the duplication of the videotape while in the possession of

the system,

(ii) prevents unauthorized duplication while in the possession of the

facility making the videotape for the system if the system owns or

controls the facility, or takes reasonable precautions to prevent such

duplication if it does not own or control the facility,

(iii) takes adequate precautions to prevent duplication while the tape

is being transported, and

(iv) subject to clause (2), erases or destroys, or causes the erasure or

destruction of, the videotape; and

(D) within forty-five days after the end of each calendar quarter, an

owner or officer of the cable system executes an affidavit attesting

(i) to the steps and precautions taken to prevent duplication of the

videotape, and

(ii) subject to clause (2), to the erasure or destruction of all

videotapes made or used during such quarter; and

(E) such owner or officer places or causes each such affidavit, and

affidavits received pursuant to clause (2) (C), to be placed in a file,

open to public inspection, at such system's main office in the community

where the transmission is made or in the nearest community where such

system maintains an office; and

(F) the nonsimultaneous transmission is one that the cable system would

be authorized to transmit under the rules, regulations, and

authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect at the

time of the nonsimultaneous transmission if the transmission had been

made simultaneously, except that this subclause shall not apply to

inadvertent or accidental transmissions.

(2) If a cable system transfers to any person a videotape of a program

nonsimultaneously transmitted by it, such transfer is actionable as an

act of infringement under section 501, and is fully subject to the

remedies provided by sections 502 through 506 and 509, except that,

pursuant to a written, nonprofit contract providing for the equitable

sharing of the costs of such videotape and its transfer, a videotape

nonsimultaneously transmitted by it, in accordance with clause (1), may

be transferred by one cable system in Alaska to another system in

Alaska, by one cable system in Hawaii permitted to make such

nonsimultaneous transmissions to another such cable system in Hawaii, or

by one cable system in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Trust

Territory of the Pacific Islands, to another cable system in any of

those three territories, if-

(A) each such contract is available for public inspection in the offices

of the cable systems involved, and a copy of such contract is filed,

within thirty days after such contract is entered into, with the

Copyright Office (which Office shall make each such contract available

for public inspection); and

(B) the cable system to which the videotape is transferred complies with

clause (1) (A), (B), (C) (i), (iii), and (iv), and (D) through (F); and

(C) such system provides a copy of the affidavit required to be made in

accordance with clause (1) (D) to each cable system making a previous

nonsimultaneous transmission of the same videotape.

(3) This subsection shall not be construed to supersede the exclusivity

protection provisions of any existing agreement, or any such agreement

hereafter entered into, between a cable system and a television

broadcast station in the area in which the cable system is located, or a

network with which such station is affiliated.

(4) As used in this subsection, the term "videotape", and each of its

variant forms, means the reproduction of the images and sounds of a

program or programs broadcast by a television broadcast station licensed

by the Federal Communications Commission, regardless of the nature of

the material objects, such as tapes or films, in which the reproduction

is embodied.

(f) Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms and their