§ 111. Limitations on exclusive rights: Secondary transmissions of broadcast programming by cable

Subsec. (d)(4)(A). Pub. L. 106–113, § 1000(a)(9) [title I, § 1011(a)(2)], substituted “statutory” for “compulsory” in two places.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 106–113, § 1000(a)(9) [title I, § 1011(a)(1)], substituted “programming” for “programing” wherever appearing.

1995—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 104–39 inserted “and section 114(d)” after “of this subsection”.

1994—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 103–369, § 3(b), in fourth undesignated par. defining local service area of a primary transmitter, inserted “or such station’s television market as defined in section 76.55(e) of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on September 18, 1993), or any modifications to such television market made, on or after September 18, 1993, pursuant to section 76.55(e) or 76.59 of title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations,” after “April 15, 1976,”.

Pub. L. 103–369, § 3(a), inserted “microwave,” after “wires, cables,” in third undesignated par., defining cable system.

1993—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(1), struck out “, after consultation with the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (if and when the Tribunal has been constituted),” after “Register shall” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (d)(1)(A). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(2), struck out “, after consultation with the Copyright Royalty Tribunal (if and when the Tribunal has been constituted),” after “Register of Copyrights may”.

Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(3), substituted “All funds held by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be invested in interest-bearing United States securities for later distribution with interest by the Librarian of Congress in the event no controversy over distribution exists, or by a copyright arbitration royalty panel in the event a controversy over such distribution exists.” for “All funds held by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be invested in interest-bearing United States securities for later distribution with interest by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal as provided by this title. The Register shall submit to the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, on a semiannual basis, a compilation of all statements of account covering the relevant six-month period provided by clause (1) of this subsection.”

Subsec. (d)(4)(A). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(4), substituted “Librarian of Congress” for “Copyright Royalty Tribunal” before “claim with the” and for “Tribunal” before “requirements that the”.

Subsec. (d)(4)(B). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(5), amended subpar. (B) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (B) read as follows: “After the first day of August of each year, the Copyright Royalty Tribunal shall determine whether there exists a controversy concerning the distribution of royalty fees. If the Tribunal determines that no such controversy exists, it shall, after deducting its reasonable administrative costs under this section, distribute such fees to the copyright owners entitled, or to their designated agents. If the Tribunal finds the existence of a controversy, it shall, pursuant to chapter 8 of this title, conduct a proceeding to determine the distribution of royalty fees.”

Subsec. (d)(4)(C). Pub. L. 103–198, § 6(a)(6), substituted “Librarian of Congress” for “Copyright Royalty Tribunal”.

1990—Subsec. (c)(2)(B). Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(a)(1), struck out “recorded the notice specified by subsection (d) and” after “where the cable system has not”.

Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(a)(2)(A), substituted “clause (1)” for “paragraph (1)”.

Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(a)(2)(B), substituted “clause (4)” for “clause (5)” in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (d)(3)(B). Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(a)(2)(C), substituted “clause (1)(A)” for “clause (2)(A)”.

1988—Subsec. (a)(4), (5). Pub. L. 100–667, § 202(1)(A), added par. (4) and redesignated former par. (4) as (5).

Subsec. (d)(1)(A). Pub. L. 100–667, § 202(1)(B), inserted provision that determination of total number of subscribers and gross amounts paid to cable system for basic service of providing secondary transmissions of primary broadcast transmitters not include subscribers and amounts collected from subscribers receiving secondary transmissions for private home viewing under section 119.

1986—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99–397, § 2(a)(1), (4), (5), substituted “paragraph (1)” for “clause (2)” in par. (3), struck out par. (1) which related to recordation of notice with Copyright Office by cable systems in order for secondary transmissions to be subject to compulsory licensing, and redesignated pars. (2) to (5) as (1) to (4), respectively.

Pub. L. 99–397, § 2(a)(2), (3), which directed the amendment of subsec. (d) by substituting “paragraph (4)” for “clause (5)” in pars. (2) and (2)(B) could not be executed because pars. (2) and (2)(B) did not contain references to “clause (5)”. See 1990 Amendment note above.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 99–397, § 2(b), substituted “subsection (d)(1)” for “subsection (d)(2)” in third undesignated par., defining a cable system.

Pub. L. 99–397, § 1, inserted provision in fourth undesignated par., defining “local service area of a primary transmitter”, to cover that term in relation to low power television stations.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2010 Amendment

Pub. L. 111–175, title I, § 104(d), May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1235, provided that: “The royalty fee rates established in section 111(d)(1)(B) of title 17, United States Code, as amended by subsection (c)(1)(C) of this section, shall take effect commencing with the first accounting period occurring in 2010.”

Pub. L. 111–175, title I, § 104(h), May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1238, provided that: “(1) In general.—Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the amendments made by this section [amending this section and section 804 of this title], to the extent such amendments assign a distant signal equivalent value to the secondary transmission of the multicast stream of a primary transmitter, shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [deemed to refer to Feb. 27, 2010, see section 307(a) of Pub. L. 111–175, set out as a note below]. “(2) Delayed applicability.—“(A) Secondary transmissions of a multicast stream beyond the local service area of its primary transmitter before 2010 act.—In any case in which a cable system was making secondary transmissions of a multicast stream beyond the local service area of its primary transmitter before the date of the enactment of this Act, a distant signal equivalent value (referred to in paragraph (1)) shall not be assigned to secondary transmissions of such multicast stream that are made on or before June 30, 2010. “(B) Multicast streams subject to preexisting written agreements for the secondary transmission of such streams.—In any case in which the secondary transmission of a multicast stream of a primary transmitter is the subject of a written agreement entered into on or before June 30, 2009, between a cable system or an association representing the cable system and a primary transmitter or an association representing the primary transmitter, a distant signal equivalent value (referred to in paragraph (1)) shall not be assigned to secondary transmissions of such multicast stream beyond the local service area of its primary transmitter that are made on or before the date on which such written agreement expires. “(C) No refunds or offsets for prior statements of account.—A cable system that has reported secondary transmissions of a multicast stream beyond the local service area of its primary transmitter on a statement of account deposited under section 111 of title 17, United States Code, before the date of the enactment of this Act shall not be entitled to any refund, or offset, of royalty fees paid on account of such secondary transmissions of such multicast stream. “(3) Definitions.—In this subsection, the terms ‘cable system’, ‘secondary transmission’, ‘multicast stream’, and ‘local service area of a primary transmitter’ have the meanings given those terms in section 111(f) of title 17, United States Code, as amended by this section.”

Pub. L. 111–175, title III, § 307, May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1257, provided that: “(a) Effective Date.—Unless specifically provided otherwise, this Act [see Short Title of 2010 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title], and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect on February 27, 2010, and with the exception of the reference in subsection (b), all references to the date of enactment of this Act shall be deemed to refer to February 27, 2010, unless otherwise specified. “(b) Noninfringement of Copyright.—The secondary transmission of a performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission is not an infringement of copyright if it was made by a satellite carrier on or after February 27, 2010, and prior to enactment of this Act [May 27, 2010], and was in compliance with the law as in existence on February 27, 2010.”

Effective Date of 2006 Amendment

Pub. L. 109–303, § 6, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1483, provided that: “(a) In General.—Except as provided under subsection (b), this Act [see Short Title of 2006 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title] and the amendments made by this Act shall be effective as if included in the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004 [Pub. L. 108–419]. “(b) Partial Distribution of Royalty Fees.—Section 5 [amending section 801 of this title] shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 6, 2006].”

Effective Date of 2004 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 108–419 effective 6 months after Nov. 30, 2004, subject to transition provisions, see section 6 of Pub. L. 108–419, set out as an Effective Date; Transition Provisions note under section 801 of this title.

Effective Date of 1995 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 104–39 effective 3 months after Nov. 1, 1995, see section 6 of Pub. L. 104–39, set out as a note under section 101 of this title.

Effective Date of 1994 Amendment

Amendment by section 3(b) of Pub. L. 103–369 effective July 1, 1994, see section 6(d) of Pub. L. 103–369, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 1994 Amendment note under section 119 of this title.

Effective Date of 1993 Amendment

Pub. L. 103–198, § 7, Dec. 17, 1993, 107 Stat. 2313, provided that: “(a) In General.—This Act [see Short Title of 1993 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title] and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 17, 1993]. “(b) Effectiveness of Existing Rates and Distributions.—All royalty rates and all determinations with respect to the proportionate division of compulsory license fees among copyright claimants, whether made by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, or by voluntary agreement, before the effective date set forth in subsection (a) shall remain in effect until modified by voluntary agreement or pursuant to the amendments made by this Act. “(c) Transfer of Appropriations.—All unexpended balances of appropriations made to the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, as of the effective date of this Act, are transferred on such effective date to the Copyright Office for use by the Copyright Office for the purposes for which such appropriations were made.”

Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

Pub. L. 101–318, § 3(e)(1), July 3, 1990, 104 Stat. 289, provided that: “The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section and section 801 of this title] shall be effective as of August 27, 1986.”

Effective Date of 1988 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 100–667 effective Jan. 1, 1989, see section 206 of Pub. L. 100–667, set out as an Effective Date note under section 119 of this title.

Savings Provision

Pub. L. 111–175, title III, § 306, May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1257, provided that: “(a) In General.—Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 2010 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title], title 17, United States Code, the Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.], regulations promulgated by the Register of Copyrights under this title or title 17, United States Code, or regulations promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission under this Act or the Communications Act of 1934 shall be construed to prevent a multichannel video programming distributor from retransmitting a performance or display of a work pursuant to an authorization granted by the copyright owner or, if within the scope of its authorization, its licensee. “(b) Limitation.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be construed to affect any obligation of a multichannel video programming distributor under section 325(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 325(b)] to obtain the authority of a television broadcast station before retransmitting that station’s signal.”

Severability

Pub. L. 113–200, title III, § 301, Dec. 4, 2014, 128 Stat. 2067, provided that: “If any provision of this Act [see Short Title of 2014 Amendment note set out under section 609 of Title 47, Telecommunications], an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.”

Pub. L. 111–175, title IV, § 401, May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1258, provided that: “If any provision of this Act [see Short Title of 2010 Amendment note set out under section 101 of this title], an amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.”

Construction

Pub. L. 111–175, title I, § 108, May 27, 2010, 124 Stat. 1245, provided that: “Nothing in section 111, 119, or 122 of title 17, United States Code, including the amendments made to such sections by this title, shall be construed to affect the meaning of any terms under the Communications Act of 1934 [47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.], except to the extent that such sections are specifically cross-referenced in such Act or the regulations issued thereunder.”