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Home > Legislation > 111th Congress > H.R.3216

H.R.3216 - Local Television Freedom Act of 2009 111th Congress (2009-2010)

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Sponsor: Rep. Ross, Mike [D-AR-4] (Introduced 07/14/2009)
Committees: House - Judiciary; Energy and Commerce
Latest Action: House - 07/15/2009 Referred to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.  (All Actions)
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This bill has the status Introduced

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Summary: H.R.3216 — 111th Congress (2009-2010) All Information (Except Text)

There is one summary for H.R.3216. Bill summaries are authored by CRS.

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (07/14/2009)

Local Television Freedom Act of 2009 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow retransmission of a television broadcast station's signals by a multichannel video programming distributor to a subscriber located in the station's adjacent underserved county, unless the station certifies to the distributor that it is under no legal obligation restricting its ability to grant retransmission consent to the distributor.

Prohibits a television broadcast station that elects retransmission consent from requesting as a condition to receiving retransmission consent that a multichannel video programming distributor not exercise its right to carry any other broadcast station in the station's adjacent underserved county.

Allows a satellite carrier to provide service under a statutory license to the adjacent underserved county within which a household is located.

Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revise regulations concerning network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity, and sports blackout protection against the retransmission by a multichannel video programming distributor to permit such retransmission if the receiving subscriber is in the station's adjacent underserved county.

Imposes statutory copyright licensing in certain situations on the secondary transmission of a television broadcast station into an adjacent underserved county, except when dealing with a performance or display of a work made by that station. Defines "adjacent underserved county" as a county within the station's adjacent market that is both: (1) located in the same state as the station's community of license; and (2) not within the local market of any other station that is both affiliated with the same network and located in the same state as such other station's community of license.

Declares that the secondary transmission of a performance or display of a work embodied in a primary transmission is not an infringement of copyright if the secondary transmission is to a subscriber in a broadcast station's adjacent underserved county.