47 U.S.C. § 612 — Syndicated exclusivity

Page 325 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 612 1994—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 103–414 substituted ‘‘The Commission’’ for ‘‘The Commission shall complete rulemaking actions required by this section and issue specific and detailed rules and regulations resulting therefrom within one year after January 3, 1983. The Commission shall complete rulemaking actions re- quired to implement the amendments made by the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 within nine months after August 16, 1988. Thereafter, the Commis- sion’’. 1988—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–394, § 3(a), amended sub- sec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows: ‘‘The Commission shall require that essen- tial telephones provide internal means for effective use with hearing aids that are specially designed for tele- phone use. For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘essential telephones’ means only coin-operated tele- phones, telephones provided for emergency use, and other telephones frequently needed for use by persons using such hearing aids.’’ Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100–394, § 3(b), substituted ‘‘The Commission shall complete rulemaking actions re- quired to implement the amendments made by the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 within nine months after August 16, 1988. Thereafter, the Commis- sion shall periodically review the regulations estab- lished pursuant to this section.’’ for ‘‘Thereafter the Commission shall periodically review such rules and regulations.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS FOR 1988 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 100–394, § 2, Aug. 16, 1988, 102 Stat. 976, pro- vided that: ‘‘The Congress finds that— ‘‘(1) to the fullest extent made possible by tech- nology and medical science, hearing-impaired persons should have equal access to the national tele- communications network; ‘‘(2) present technology provides effective coupling of telephones to hearing aids used by some severely hearing-impaired persons for communicating by voice telephone; ‘‘(3) anticipated improvements in both telephone and hearing aid technologies promise greater access in the future; and ‘‘(4) universal telephone service for hearing-im- paired persons will lead to greater employment op- portunities and increased productivity.’’ CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS Pub. L. 97–410, § 2, Jan. 3, 1983, 96 Stat. 2043, provided that: ‘‘The Congress finds that— ‘‘(1) all persons should have available the best tele- phone service which is technologically and economi- cally feasible; ‘‘(2) currently available technology is capable of providing telephone service to some individuals who, because of hearing impairments, require telephone reception by means of hearing aids with induction coils, or other inductive receptors; ‘‘(3) the lack of technical standards ensuring com- patibility between hearing aids and telephones has prevented receipt of the best telephone service which is technologically and economically feasible; and ‘‘(4) adoption of technical standards is required in order to ensure compatibility between telephones and hearing aids, thereby accommodating the needs of in- dividuals with hearing impairments.’’ § 611. Closed-captioning of public service an- nouncements Any television public service announcement that is produced or funded in whole or in part by any agency or instrumentality of Federal Gov- ernment shall include closed captioning of the verbal content of such announcement. A tele- vision broadcast station licensee— (1) shall not be required to supply closed captioning for any such announcement that fails to include it; and (2) shall not be liable for broadcasting any such announcement without transmitting a closed caption unless the licensee inten- tionally fails to transmit the closed caption that was included with the announcement. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VII, § 711, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 8, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2804; amended Pub. L. 101–336, title IV, § 402, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 369.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1990—Pub. L. 101–336 amended section generally, sub- stituting provisions relating to closed-captioning of public service announcements for provisions relating to establishment, functions, composition, etc., of Tele- communications Policy Study Commission. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title. § 612. Syndicated exclusivity (a) The Federal Communications Commission shall initiate a combined inquiry and rule- making proceeding for the purpose of— (1) determining the feasibility of imposing syndicated exclusivity rules with respect to the delivery of syndicated programming (as defined by the Commission) for private home viewing of secondary transmissions by sat- ellite of broadcast station signals similar to the rules issued by the Commission with re- spect to syndicated exclusivity and cable tele- vision; and (2) adopting such rules if the Commission considers the imposition of such rules to be feasible. (b) In the event that the Commission adopts such rules, any willful and repeated secondary transmission made by a satellite carrier to the public of a primary transmission embodying the performance or display of a work which violates such Commission rules shall be subject to the remedies, sanctions, and penalties provided by subchapter V and section 605 of this title. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VII, § 712, as added Pub. L. 100–667, title II, § 203, Nov. 16, 1988, 102 Stat. 3958; amended Pub. L. 103–414, title III, § 304(a)(17), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4297.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–414 struck out ‘‘, within 120 days after January 1, 1989,’’ after ‘‘The Federal Communications Commission shall’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1989, see section 206 of Pub. L. 100–667, set out as a note under section 119 of Title 17, Copyrights. Page 326 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 613 1 See References in Text note below. § 613. Video programming accessibility (a) Repealed. Pub. L. 115–141, div. P, title IV, § 402(i)(11), Mar. 23, 2018, 132 Stat. 1090 (b) Accountability criteria Within 18 months after February 8, 1996, the Commission shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to implement this section. Such regulations shall ensure that— (1) video programming first published or ex- hibited after the effective date of such regula- tions is fully accessible through the provision of closed captions, except as provided in sub- section (d); and (2) video programming providers or owners maximize the accessibility of video program- ming first published or exhibited prior to the effective date of such regulations through the provision of closed captions, except as pro- vided in subsection (d). (c) Deadlines for captioning (1) In general The regulations prescribed pursuant to sub- section (b) shall include an appropriate sched- ule of deadlines for the provision of closed cap- tioning of video programming once published or exhibited on television. (2) Deadlines for programming delivered using Internet protocol (A) Regulations on closed captioning on video programming delivered using Internet protocol Not later than 6 months after the submis- sion of the report to the Commission re- quired by subsection (e)(1) 1 of the Twenty- First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, the Commission shall revise its regulations to require the provision of closed captioning on video pro- gramming delivered using Internet protocol that was published or exhibited on television with captions after the effective date of such regulations. (B) Schedule The regulations prescribed under this paragraph shall include an appropriate schedule of deadlines for the provision of closed captioning, taking into account whether such programming is prerecorded and edited for Internet distribution, or whether such programming is live or near- live and not edited for Internet distribution. (C) Cost The Commission may delay or waive the regulation promulgated under subparagraph (A) to the extent the Commission finds that the application of the regulation to live video programming delivered using Internet protocol with captions after the effective date of such regulations would be economi- cally burdensome to providers of video pro- gramming or program owners. (D) Requirements for regulations The regulations prescribed under this paragraph— (i) shall contain a definition of ‘‘near- live programming’’ and ‘‘edited for Inter- net distribution’’; (ii) may exempt any service, class of service, program, class of program, equip- ment, or class of equipment for which the Commission has determined that the ap- plication of such regulations would be eco- nomically burdensome for the provider of such service, program, or equipment; (iii) shall clarify that, for the purposes of implementation, of this subsection, the terms ‘‘video programming distributors’’ and ‘‘video programming providers’’ in- clude an entity that makes available di- rectly to the end user video programming through a distribution method that uses Internet protocol; (iv) and describe the responsibilities of video programming providers or distribu- tors and video programming owners; (v) shall establish a mechanism to make available to video programming providers and distributors information on video pro- gramming subject to the Act on an ongo- ing basis; (vi) shall consider that the video pro- gramming provider or distributor shall be deemed in compliance if such entity en- ables the rendering or pass through of closed captions and makes a good faith ef- fort to identify video programming subject to the Act using the mechanism created in (v); and (vii) shall provide that de minimis fail- ure to comply with such regulations by a video programming provider or owner shall not be treated as a violation of the regulations. (3) Alternate means of compliance An entity may meet the requirements of this section through alternate means than those prescribed by regulations pursuant to sub- section (b), as revised pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection, if the requirements of this section are met, as determined by the Commission. (d) Exemptions Notwithstanding subsection (b)— (1) the Commission may exempt by regula- tion programs, classes of programs, or services for which the Commission has determined that the provision of closed captioning would be economically burdensome to the provider or owner of such programming; (2) a provider of video programming or the owner of any program carried by the provider shall not be obligated to supply closed cap- tions if such action would be inconsistent with contracts in effect on February 8, 1996, except that nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve a video programming provider of its obligations to provide services required by Federal law; and (3) a provider of video programming or pro- gram owner may petition the Commission for an exemption from the requirements of this section, and the Commission may grant such petition upon a showing that the requirements contained in this section would be economi-