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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

April 29, 1999
Issue 44
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For the complete text of legislation, visit the Copyright Office Website
at http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/penleg.html or go directly to Thomas
at http://thomas.loc.gov

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CONTENTS

* Legislative News *

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

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* 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.

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