[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4572 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4572
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 23, 2014
Received
July 29, 2014
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 and title 17, United States
Code, to extend expiring provisions relating to the retransmission of
signals of television broadcast stations, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``STELA
Reauthorization Act of 2014''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. No additional appropriations authorized.
TITLE I--COMMUNICATIONS PROVISIONS
Sec. 101. Extension of authority.
Sec. 102. Retransmission consent negotiations.
Sec. 103. Delayed application of JSA attribution rule in case of waiver
petition.
Sec. 104. Deletion or repositioning of stations during certain periods.
Sec. 105. Repeal of integration ban.
Sec. 106. Report on communications implications of statutory licensing
modifications.
Sec. 107. Local network channel broadcast reports.
Sec. 108. Report on designated market areas.
Sec. 109. Definitions.
TITLE II--COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS
Sec. 201. Reauthorization.
Sec. 202. Termination of license.
SEC. 2. NO ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out this Act, or the
amendments made by this Act. This Act, and the amendments made by this
Act, shall be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized or
appropriated.
TITLE I--COMMUNICATIONS PROVISIONS
SEC. 101. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.
Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b))
is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``December 31, 2014''
and inserting ``December 31, 2019''; and
(2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ``January 1, 2015''
each place it appears and inserting ``January 1, 2020''.
SEC. 102. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT NEGOTIATIONS.
(a) In General.--Section 325(b)(3)(C) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is amended--
(1) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(iv) prohibit a television broadcast station from
coordinating negotiations or negotiating on a joint basis with
another television broadcast station in the same local market
(as defined in section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code)
to grant retransmission consent under this section to a
multichannel video programming distributor, unless such
stations are directly or indirectly under common de jure
control permitted under the regulations of the Commission.''.
(b) Margin Correction.--Section 325(b)(3)(C) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(3)(C)) is further amended by moving the
margin of clause (iii) 4 ems to the left.
(c) Deadline for Regulations.--Not later than 9 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall promulgate
regulations to implement the amendments made by this section.
SEC. 103. DELAYED APPLICATION OF JSA ATTRIBUTION RULE IN CASE OF WAIVER
PETITION.
In the case of a party to a joint sales agreement (as defined in
Note 2(k) to section 73.3555 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations)
that is in effect on the effective date of the amendment to Note
2(k)(2) to such section made by the Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking and Report and Order adopted by the Commission on March 31,
2014 (FCC 14-28), and who, not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, submits to the Commission a petition for a
waiver of the application to such agreement of the rule in such Note
2(k)(2) (as so amended), such party shall not be considered to be in
violation of the ownership limitations of such section by reason of the
application of such rule to such agreement until the later of--
(1) the date that is 18 months after the date on which the
Commission denies such petition; or
(2) December 31, 2016.
SEC. 104. DELETION OR REPOSITIONING OF STATIONS DURING CERTAIN PERIODS.
(a) In General.--Section 614(b)(9) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 534(b)(9)) is amended by striking the second sentence.
(b) Revision of Rules.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall revise section 76.1601
of its rules (47 CFR 76.1601) and any note to such section by removing
the prohibition against deletion or repositioning of a local commercial
television station during a period in which major television ratings
services measure the size of audiences of local television stations.
SEC. 105. REPEAL OF INTEGRATION BAN.
(a) No Force or Effect.--The second sentence of section
76.1204(a)(1) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, shall have no
force or effect after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(b) Removal From Rules.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete all actions
necessary to remove the sentence described in subsection (a) from its
rules.
SEC. 106. REPORT ON COMMUNICATIONS IMPLICATIONS OF STATUTORY LICENSING
MODIFICATIONS.
(a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct a study that analyzes and evaluates the changes to the carriage
requirements currently imposed on multichannel video programming
distributors under the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 151 et
seq.) and the regulations promulgated by the Commission that would be
required or beneficial to consumers, and such other matters as the
Comptroller General considers appropriate, if Congress implemented a
phase-out of the current statutory licensing requirements set forth
under sections 111, 119, and 122 of title 17, United States Code. Among
other things, the study shall consider the impact such a phase-out and
related changes to carriage requirements would have on consumer prices
and access to programming.
(b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report on the results of the
study conducted under subsection (a), including any recommendations for
legislative or administrative actions. Such report shall also include a
discussion of any differences between such results and the results of
the study conducted under section 303 of the Satellite Television
Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (124 Stat. 1255).
SEC. 107. LOCAL NETWORK CHANNEL BROADCAST REPORTS.
(a) Requirement.--
(1) In general.--On the 270th day after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and on each succeeding anniversary of
such 270th day, each satellite carrier shall submit an annual
report to the Commission setting forth--
(A) each local market in which it--
(i) retransmits signals of 1 or more
television broadcast stations with a community
of license in that market;
(ii) has commenced providing such signals
in the preceding 1-year period; and
(iii) has ceased to provide such signals in
the preceding 1-year period; and
(B) detailed information regarding the use and
potential use of satellite capacity for the
retransmission of local signals in each local market.
(2) Termination.--The requirement under paragraph (1) shall
cease after each satellite carrier has submitted 5 reports
under such paragraph.
(b) Definitions.--In this section--
(1) the terms ``local market'' and ``satellite carrier''
have the meaning given such terms in section 339(d) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 339(d)); and
(2) the term ``television broadcast station'' has the
meaning given such term in section 325(b)(7) of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7)).
SEC. 108. REPORT ON DESIGNATED MARKET AREAS.
Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Commission shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report containing an analysis of--
(1) the extent to which consumers in each local market (as
defined in section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code) have
access to broadcast programming from television broadcast
stations (as defined in section 325(b)(7) of the Communications
Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)(7))) located outside their local
market, including through carriage by cable operators and
satellite carriers of signals that are significantly viewed
(within the meaning of section 340 of such Act (47 U.S.C.
340)); and
(2) whether there are technologically and economically
feasible alternatives to the use of designated market areas (as
defined in section 122(j) of title 17, United States Code) to
define markets that would provide consumers with more
programming options and the potential impact such alternatives
could have on localism and on broadcast television locally,
regionally, and nationally.
SEC. 109. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Energy and Commerce and the Committee on the Judiciary of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and the Committee on the Judiciary
of the Senate.
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
TITLE II--COPYRIGHT PROVISIONS
SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION.
Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 111(d)(3)--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``clause'' and inserting ``paragraph''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``clause'' and
inserting ``paragraph''; and
(2) in section 119--
(A) in subsection (c)(1)(E), by striking ``2014''
and inserting ``2019''; and
(B) in subsection (e), by striking ``2014'' and
inserting ``2019''.
SEC. 202. TERMINATION OF LICENSE.
(a) In General.--Section 119 of title 17, United States Code, as
amended in section 201, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Termination of License.--This section shall cease to be
effective on December 31, 2019.''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 107(a) of the Satellite
Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (17 U.S.C. 119 note) is
repealed.
Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2014.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.