October 2006

The FCC today released a Public Notice announcing a 60 day settlement window for resolving conflicts between mutually exclusive Low Power Television applications for digital companion channels. Between now and December 15, applicants in 192 separate groups can file engineering amendments to remove the conflict between their applications. Parties cannot pay more than the reimbursement…

In one of those "man bites dog" situations, the FCC yesterday decided a case where a cable television system asked that the FCC add the communities that it serves to a nearby television market so that it could carry a television station from that nearby market.  This is in contrast to the usual market modification cases…

This past week’s appearance of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show raised the question of when the equal opportunities requirements of Section 315 of the Communications Act apply.   While there has been extensive press coverage of the event, seemingly asking why the Democratic candidate is not by law entitled to equal time, the policy of the Commission has been to treat most interview programs, even ones that usually concentrate on entertainment matters, as "bona fide news or news interview" programs, exempt from the equal time obligations.

While, at one time, the FCC had considered only traditional news and news interview programs (like Meet the Press or Face the Nation) to be "bona fide news or news interview programs."  But in the 1990s, the Commission began to realize that political discourse and the coverage of political races often occurred in programs much different than these traditional news programs.  To encourage this expanded coverage of the political process, the bona fide news exemption had to be extended to programs that routinely featured newsmakers, though the programs themselves might more often focus on entertainment or less serious programming.

The morning "news" programs like Today and Good Morning America were quickly recognized as bona fide news interview programs, and then talk programs like Donahue, Geraldo and Sally Jesse Raphael were later recognized to be exempt.  And, as time went on, the Commission recognized that the even programs that were far more entertainment oriented could still have serious discussions (or at least discussions relevant to their particular audiences) about political issues.  Specific exemptions were granted to the Howard Stern program, Imus in the Morning, and to Entertainment Tonight, which all, from time to time, interviewed political figures or other newsmakers about topics of interest to their audience.  And, while many of these programs filed with the FCC asking for specific declarations that the programs were indeed bona fide news interview programs and exempt from the equal time requirements, the exemption applies to any program that meets the FCC’s standards, without the need for a prior determination from the FCC that they are exempt.

Continue Reading Arnold and Leno – Making Law?

Google’s recent announced plans to purchase You Tube has ignited a veritable blizzard of discussion about potential copyright litigation that could result from the user-generated content that forms the backbone of the You Tube experience.  For broadcasters who have been venturing into the on-line world, this discussion highlights the cautions that they should exercise in…

At the FCC’s open meeting today, the Commission adopted a First Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making taking the first steps towards permitting "low power devices" to operate in the broadcast television spectrum.  Although the actual Order has yet to be released, the News Release issued today states that the Commission has concluded that fixed (not mobile) low power devices can be allowed to operate on vacant TV channels, and that the marketing of such devices can commence the day after the DTV transition, February 18, 2009.  At the same time, however, the News Release states that the NPRM will invite comment on the rules necessary to protect TV broadcasting and other services from harmful interference, and seek input on whether such devices should be permitted on a licensed or unlicensed basis.  Furthermore, the NPRM will solicit additional information necessary to determine whether personal or portable devices can operate in any of the TV channels without causing harmful interference.  Continue Reading First (Baby) Steps Towards Devices in TV White Space

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has just announced the required recordkeeping format for Internet webcasters streaming on the Internet. The full text of the decision can be found at http://www.loc.gov/crb/fedreg/2006/71fr59010-9.html

Basically, the requirements set forth by the CRB obligate those streaming their signals on the Internet must keep track of the music that they play for at least two weeks of every quarter, and report that music to SoundExchange in an ASCII format. The CRB found that an ASCII formatted report could be generated by Excel or Quattro Pro spread sheets. The Board’s decision also sets forth specifics as to format, headers and other details of the reported information.

SoundExchange had previously prepared model reports for recordkeeping using Excel and has been ordered by the CRB to develop one for Quattro Pro. The Excel model will presumably be modified to come into line with the CRB’s decision. A copy of SoundExchange’s model can be found at http://www.soundexchange.com/licensee/licensee_cws.html#reporting

Services have been required to keep information about the music that they play since an interim Order issued by the Copyright Office in April 2004. The new Order from the CRB contemplates that the information that has been retained by Internet services be provided using this newly mandated format. Continue Reading Copyright Royalty Board Announces Music Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements for Internet Streaming

Recently, we wrote about reports that the FCC would be creating an Obesity Task Force.  On September 27, Senator Brownback, FCC Chairman Martin, and FCC Commissioner Tate announced the formation of that task force.  The task force will examine the impact of the media and advertising on children’s health.  The press release stated:

“Given…