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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet
February, 1999
Issue 39
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For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at
http://www.copyright.gov.

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CONTENTS

* News *

Legislation
Senator Hatch Introduces Copyright Compulsory License Improvement
Act, S. 247

* Calendar *

* To Subscribe/Unsubscribe to NewsNet*

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* NEWS *

For the complete text of Federal Register announcements, visit the
Copyright Office homepage at http://www.copyright.gov .

----------------Legislation----------------

SENATOR HATCH INTRODUCES COPYRIGHT COMPULSORY LICENSE IMPROVEMENT
ACT, S. 247
Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
introduced S. 247 on January 19. S. 247 would amend title 17, United
States Code, to reform the copyright law with respect to satellite
retransmissions of broadcast signals, and for other purposes. Section 2
of the bill would create a new copyright compulsory license, found at
section 122 of title 17 U.S.C., for the retransmission of television
broadcast stations by satellite carriers to subscribers located within
the local markets of those stations. Section 3 would extend the
expiration date of the current section 119 satellite compulsory license
from December 31, 1999, to December 31, 2004. Section 4 would reduce the
27 cent royalty fee adopted last year by the Librarian of Congress for
the retransmission of network and superstation signals by satellite
carriers under the section 119 license. Section 5 would add two new
definitions to the current section 119 satellite license. Section 6
would extend the section 119 license to cover the copyrighted
programming carried upon the Public Broadcasting's national satellite
feed. Section 7 would amend the current section 119 license to make it
contingent upon full compliance with all rules and regulations of the
FCC. Section 8 sets an effective date of January 1, 1999, with the
exception of section 4, which would be effective on July 1, 1999. For
further information, search for S. 247 in the 106th Congress at
http://thomas.loc.gov/

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* CALENDAR *

February 12, 1999: Hearing in Chicago, IL, on promotion of distance
education through digital technologies. Summaries of testimony due 10
days prior to date of hearing. (63 FR 71167)

February 15, 1999: Comments due on interim regulations on requirements
by which a copyright owner or its agent may provide notice to libraries
and archives that a published work in the final 20 years of its extended
term of copyright is subject to normal commercial exploitation or that a
copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at a reasonable price
(63 FR 71785)

February 22: Effective date of change of mailing address for NIEs and
GATT registrations. The new address for NIEs is GC/I&R, P.O. Box 70400,
Southwest Station, Washington, D.C. 20024. The new address for GATT
registrations is Library of Congress, Copyright Office, 101 Independence
Ave., S.E., Washington, D.C. 20559-6000 (64 FR 3574)

February 24, 1999: Reply comments due on promotion of distance education
through digital technologies (63 FR 71167)

March 8, 1999: Comments due on the proposed amendments to the
regulations governing royalty distribution and rate adjustment
proceedings prescribed by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of
1993 (64 FR 3746)

April 1, 1999: Reply comments due on interim regulations on requirements
by which a copyright owner or its agent may provide notice to libraries
and archives that a published work in the final 20 years of its extended
term of copyright is subject to normal commercial exploitation or that a
copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at a reasonable price
(63 FR 71785)

April 5, 1999: Reply comments due on the proposed amendments to the
regulations governing royalty distribution and rate adjustment
proceedings prescribed by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of
1993 (64 FR 3055 and 64 FR 3746)

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