Cablers’ Copyright Fees Could Be Hiked
Operators Face Higher Royalty Fees For Out-Of-Market Signals
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 6/8/2008 12:04:00 AM
Washington— Cable operators might have to pay more in copyright royalties to import out-of-market TV signals under a proposal released last Monday by the U.S. Copyright Office. Cable systems in general do not pay copyright royalties to provide local TV signals to customers located within the same market.
Cable systems in general do not pay copyright royalties to provide local TV signals to customers located within the same market. But they do pay royalties for distributing TV signals brought in from distant markets.
Last year, cable paid $144 million in such royalties, which are deposited with the Copyright Office semi-annually and distributed mostly to Hollywood studios and sports leagues.
The Copyright Office would require cable to pay more in cases where the distant TV station is beaming not just a single digital programming service, but also multiple services. Digital technology allows local TV stations to segment their spectrum to provide multicast services.
The Copyright Office tentatively rejected the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s argument that copyright royalties should be assessed on a per-station basis. Instead, the Copyright Office, a division of the Library of Congress, is supporting a royalty scheme on a per-program-stream basis, provided those streams do not duplicate content.
“We propose that a cable operator must pay royalties on each retransmitted distant digital multicast stream carrying different programming from the channel lineup on other streams,” the Copyright Office said in a notice published in the Federal Register.
For now, how much cable’s copyright royalties could rise is speculative, because cable systems would not be required to carry the multicast signals. Higher royalty payments would flow from a cable operator’s decision to carry stations’ multicast services.
The NCTA issued a statement last Tuesday, saying, “We disagree with many of the proposals and will be filing comments to outline our concerns.”
Cable systems located on the periphery of a single local TV market and systems with customers in multiple markets tend to rely on distant signals.
Cable operators have a compulsory license to import distant TV signals under section 111 under the Copyright Act of 1976. Satellite-TV providers have a similar license under section 119, while section 122 authorizes satellite carriers to distribute local TV signals within their local markets.
By June 30, The Copyright Office is expected to release a comprehensive report to Congress on whether the compulsory licenses need to be overhauled.
The licenses do not establish parity between cable and satellite TV providers.
Cable's Copyright Payments Could Rise
06/03/2008NCTA, NAB: Change Not 'Compulsory’
03/02/2009Copyright Fees Could Be Hiked
06/08/2008FCC Members Doubt Repeal of Must Buy
07/30/2007Cable Cuts Five-Year Copyright Agreement
07/08/2000
