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HR 3602 IH

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to retransmission consent and must-carry for cable operators and satellite carriers.

September 19, 2007

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

To amend the Communications Act of 1934 with respect to retransmission consent and must-carry for cable operators and satellite carriers.

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 `TV Consumer Freedom Act'.

SEC. 2. RETRANSMISSION CONSENT.

Section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 325(b)) is amended--

(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

`(b)(1) No cable system or other multichannel video programming distributor shall retransmit the signal of a broadcasting station, or any part thereof, except with the express authority of the station.';

(2) in paragraph (3)--

(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking `and of the right to signal carriage under section 614';

(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking `and the right to signal carriage under section 614'; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

`(C) Within 45 days after the effective date of the TV Consumer Freedom Act, the Commission shall commence a rulemaking proceeding to revise the regulations governing the exercise by television broadcast stations of the right to grant retransmission consent under this subsection. Such regulations shall establish election time periods that correspond with those regulations adopted under subparagraph (B). The rulemaking shall be completed within 180 days after the effective date of the TV Consumer Freedom Act.'; and

(3) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (4).

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF MUST-CARRY REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Report- Sections 338, 614, and 615 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 338, 534, and 535) are repealed.

(b) Conforming Amendments-

(1) Section 623(b)(7)(A) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 543(b)(7)(A)) is amended by striking clause (i) and redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and (ii).

(2) Section 635 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 555) is amended by striking subsection (c).

(3) Section 653 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 573) is amended--

(A) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking `614, or 615,'; and

(B) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking `sections 611, 614, and 615' and inserting `section 611'.

(4) Section 336(b)(3) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 336(b)(3)) is amended by striking `have any rights to carriage under section 614 or 615 or'.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF MANDATES FOR TELEVISION FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS.

All regulations of the Federal Communications Commission requiring television receivers sold in the United States to include particular types of features or functions, or specifying the technology to be used to provide such features or functions, shall cease to be effective on the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF STATUTORY COPYRIGHT LICENSE FOR SATELLITE CARRIERS.

(a) In General- Chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 119 the following:

`Sec. 119A. Clarification of exclusive rights: secondary transmissions of distant network signals for private home viewing by certain satellite carriers.

`(a) Statutory License Granted- Notwithstanding any injunction issued under section 119(a)(7)(B), a satellite carrier is granted a statutory license to provide a secondary transmission of a performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission made by a network station in accordance with the provisions of this section.

`(b) Significantly Viewed Signals- Under the statutory license granted by subsection (a), a satellite carrier may provide a secondary transmission of a primary transmission made by a network station as provided under section 119(a)(2)(C)(i).'.

(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment- The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 17, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 119 the following:

`119A. Clarification of exclusive rights: secondary transmissions of distant network signals for private home viewing by certain satellite carriers'.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.