Bob Phillips, chief executive officer of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), urged Congress Thursday to revise the copyright laws that govern satellite television.
In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual
Property, Phillips cited examples of copyright regulations such as the
arbitrary 90-day waiting period for network service, the indistinct “Grade B” signal intensity standard, and the higher copyright fees imposed on satellite TV. “From rural America’s perspective, the current copyright rules are — in a word — ridiculous,” said Phillips.
“The nation’s copyright laws should make sense to consumers, and they
should be consistent with our nation’s pro-competitive telecommunications
policies,” Phillips said. “Satellite carriers should not be required to pay higher royalty fees than cable operators for the same programming. Nor should satellite carriers be blocked unnecessarily from providing programming to subscribers who wish to receive it and are willing to pay a surcharge for it.”
As part of its oversight hearings on “Copyright Licensing Regimes Covering
Retransmission of Broadcast Signals,” the subcommittee today heard testimony on a decision by the Librarian of Congress to raise the copyright royalty fees that satellite carriers must pay for network and superstation signals. Satellite carriers now pay 1,000 percent more than the average cable system pays for the same distant network signals.
Speaking on behalf of NRTC’s members and affiliates who provide satellite
programming services to more than 800,000 rural Americans, Phillips told the
subcommittee that:
- Satellite copyright laws should be “consumer friendly,” consistent with telecommunications policy, and competitively neutral with cable.
- Satellite carriers should not be required to pay higher royalty fees than cable operators for the same program.
- The copyright laws should be amended to allow for the nationwide
retransmission of network signals by satellite with payment of a surcharge to network affiliates for subscribers located within 35 miles of a network affiliate. - “Grade B” signal strength (also known as the “white area” rule) is an unworkable standard for authorizing receipt of distant network signals
by satellite. - The “90-day waiting period” before cable subscribers may receive
network programming by satellite is grossly anti-competitive and should
be eliminated. - The satellite carrier license should be made permanent.
