Copyright Alliance Urges House Passage of the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act

Copyright Alliance Urges House Passage of the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act
Washington, DC – Today, the Copyright Alliance released a statement supporting and urging passage of H.R. 5140, the Satellite Television Community Protection and Promotion Act (STCPPA) of 2019, intended to narrow and make permanent the Copyright Act’s section 119 compulsory license for satellite retransmission of broadcast distant signals.
According to Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid, “We thank House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) for his leadership in introducing the STCPPA Act in the House and urge its swift consideration and passage.

“The compulsory license for satellite retransmission of broadcast television distant signals, found in 17 USC ¤ 119, was created by Congress in 1988 to foster competition in the video marketplace, and it has been reauthorized five times since then. The section 119 license is set to expire at the end of this year and, while the Copyright Alliance supports its expiration, it also strongly supports the STCPPA to narrow and make permanent the remaining license.

“The ability to exercise copyright’s exclusive rights through licensing is fundamental to unlocking copyright’s full potential, and allows artists to create and distribute their works how they see fit, entrepreneurs to innovate, and markets to operate in this burgeoning environment. The Copyright Alliance believes that creators are most fairly compensated when there are no distortions in the marketplace. STCPPA reflects careful consideration and delivers a large part of the licensing for broadcast television programming back to the marketplace.

“We look forward to working with Chairman Nadler and all the members of the House Judiciary Committee, as well as other stakeholders, to ensure that this bill is promptly considered and passed.”

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ABOUT THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE

The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest and educational organization representing the copyright interests of over 1.8 million individual creators and over 13,000 organizations in the United States, across the spectrum of copyright disciplines. The Copyright Alliance is dedicated to advocating policies that promote and preserve the value of copyright, and to protecting the rights of creators and innovators. For more information, please visit www.copyrightalliance.org.