Broadcast Law Blog : Broadcast Lawyer & Attorney : Davis Wright Tremaine Law Firm : Broadcast Law Blog : Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Shanghai

Just two weeks after rejecting a claim that the FCC's rule against the broadcast of a telephone conversation without permission was unconstitutional, the Commission's Enforcement Bureau made clear that it would not hesitate to enforce that rule - and enforce it vigorously.  In a recent decision, the Commission proposed a $25,000 fine to a broadcaster who ran two different telephone conversations on the air without the prior permission of the people at the other end of the phone line.  The broadcasts were carried on three different stations, and the licensee involved in the case (Spanish Broadcasting Systems) had been fined before for violations of this rule (Section 73.1206 of the FCC's rules), so the FCC felt that it needed to issue a fine that would make an impact - thus the significant fine that is far in excess of the fines normally seen in these kinds of cases.

Here, the violation was one of those traditional stunts with which broadcasters so often have had trouble in the past - prank calls to unsuspecting people, where the station employee pretends to be someone else until he springs the joke on the person being called - sort of a Candid Camera for radio.  While the calls were apparently made at the suggestion of some friend or acquaintance of the person being called (with personal information about the person being called so that the call was geared to the person's real life to have maximum surprise and impact) - the fact was that the person being called had no idea that the call was being broadcast until after the prank had been played.  While it may have made for entertaining radio in some people's eyes, it was a significant issue for the FCC resulting in this large fine.  Broadcasters obviously need to be cognizant of the prohibition on broadcasts of this type, and avoid situations where the rule could apply, as the serious fine proposed here demonstrates that the FCC does not get the joke - and is prepared to make the broadcaster pay.  Brief your on-air personnel.  Violations of the rule can be very serious. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In a decision last week, the FCC fined a radio station $4000 for broadcasting the message from someone's telephone answering machine without permission.  The FCC's rules forbid the broadcast of a telephone call without permission (and the recording of a phone call for broadcast without permission).  So, a station violates the rule when a caller says "hello" before giving permission for the call is broadcast (except in cases where the caller is presumed to know that they may be put on the air, e.g. if they call into a call-in show where callers are regularly put on the air).  Here, the Commission made clear that the airing of even a voicemail or answering machine message without permission violates the rule.

This case is also interesting in that the licensee tried to avoid liability by saying that the infraction occurred during a program that was under the control of an independent contractor who had bought a block of time from the station in which the contractor aired programming that he produced.  The FCC reiterated the importance of a licensee maintaining control over all programming that is aired on a station, even if it is provided by a contractor.  Years ago, the FCC even revoked the license of stations that were broadcasting lottery information during brokered programming, in a foreign language that the licensee did not understand.  In those cases, the FCC made clear that a licensee had to take steps to understand what was being broadcast on its airwaves.  This most recent case should remind stations that sell blocks of time that they need to monitor those blocks to make sure that all broadcasts comply with FCC rules. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link