STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4572, the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014, as amended, which renews for another 5 years the statutory license that allows satellite providers to retransmit distance signals into a local broadcast area in certain circumstances.

The satellite distant-into-local license contained in section 119 of the Copyright Act is set to expire on December 31 of this year. Among other things, that license allows satellite carriers to provide an out-of-market station to customers who are not served by local television broadcasts.

Enacted in 1988 when the satellite industry was in its infancy, the section 119 license was intended to foster competition with the cable industry and also to increase service to unserved households, those subscribers who cannot receive an over-the-air signal of a local network. In 2010, as was the case on three prior occasions, Congress extended the section 119 license for another 5 years.

In granting cable and satellite providers the statutory right to retransmit copyrighted content at a government-regulated rate, Congress created an exception to the general rule that creators have exclusive rights to their works, including the right to determine when and how to distribute them.

This licensing system replaces the free market, something that we are generally reluctant to do. When we did so for cable and satellite providers, these industries were just starting up and the licenses were intended to encourage growth, foster competition, and enhance consumer access.

On these fronts, the system has been a tremendous success. It is estimated that nearly 90 percent of American households now subscribe to a pay-TV service provided by multichannel video programming distributors, in most cases, cable or satellite operators. Nearly all households have a choice of at least three different providers.

Nonetheless, the dramatic recent changes in marketplace dynamics, as well as technological advantages that revolutionize ways of distributing video content, raise legitimate questions about whether the statutory licensing system in the Copyright Act is still needed or should be changed.

I support this 5-year reauthorization of the section 119 distant-into-local satellite license. We still need answers as to how many households would actually lose one or more of the four major network channels if section 119 were not renewed. I, nonetheless, support this 5-year reauthorization because it will ensure that consumers who are receiving service by virtue of the section 119 license retain that service when the agreements providing for that service expire at the end of the year.

I hope we use the time afforded by this renewal to make the modifications to see if we have to keep the statutory license and keep away from the free market or modify the statutory license in the future. For the time being, we ought to extend it and renew this license now.

I, therefore, urge my colleagues to join me in voting for H.R. 4572.

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