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the U.S. mainland for shipment to Guam. Thus, the Guam cable system is forced to enter into the fuzzy world of nonsimultaneous broadcasting a legal no man's land in which our cable system is constantly exposed to the threat of litigation.

Previously, I had introduced legislation which would clarify the question of copyright liability for cable television systems located in noncontiguous American areas, such as Guam and Alaska. My bill, H.R. 4965, is similar to the "Stevens amendment" offered by Senator Ted Stevens, of Alaska, to the omnibus copyright bill, S. 22. [Mr. Won Pat's bill, H.R. 4965, is as follows:]

[H.R. 4965, 94th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL For the amendment of the Copyright Law, title 17 of the United States Code

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States "of America in Congress assembled, That title 17 of the United States Code, entitled "Copyrights", is hereby amended by adding new section 101 (f) to read as follows: “(f) For all the purposes of the provisions of this title dealing with infringements of copyright, including criminal prosecution pursuant to section 104 of this title, a person shall not infringe or have infringed the copyright in any work protected under the copyright laws of the United States who,

"(1) for the purpose of transmission on a noncontiguous area cable television system, has made or shall cause to be made, or has transmitted or shall cause to be transmitted, a videotape of a television program or programs broadcast by one or more television stations licensed by the Federal Communications Commission; and when after the enactment of this subsection:

"(i) the videotape is transmitted no more than one time, without deletion of any material including commercials, or any such system; and

"(ii) an owner or officer of such facility erases or destroys, or causes the erasure or destruction of such videotape; and

"(iii) subject to the provisions of subparagraph (2) of this subsection, on or before the end of each calendar quarter, an owner or officer of such system executes an affidavit attesting to the erasure or destruction of all such videotapes made or used during the preceding quarter; and

“(iv) said owner or officer places or causes said affidavit, or the affidavit received pursuant to section 101 (f) (2) (ii) of this title, to be placed in a file, open to public inspection, at such system's main office in the community where the transmission is made or in the nearest community where such system maintains an office.

"(2) Nothing herein shall prevent any such system, pursuant to written contract, from transferring the videotapes to another such system provided that:

"(i) said written contract is placed in the file, open to public inspection, required hereunder; and

"(ii) the last such facility transmitting the programs shall comply with the provisions of section 101 (f) (1) (ii) through (iv) of this title, and shall

"(iii) provide a copy of the affidavit required hereunder to each such system making a previous transmission of the same videotape. "(3) As used in this subsection, the following terms and their variant forms mean the following:

"(i) a transmission' is the distribution by a noncontiguous area cable television system of a videotape to its subscribers and is the equivalent of the carriage of broadcast signals for all the purposes of the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission.

"(ii) a 'noncontiguous area cable television' is a facility located in any State, territory, trust territory, or possession not within the boundary of the forty-eight contiguous continental States, that receives signals transmitted or makes or obtains videotapes of programs broadcast by one or more television broadcast stations licensed by the Federal

Communications Commission and delivers such signals or programs by wires, cables, or other communications channels to subscribing members of the public who pay for such service.

“(iii) A ‘videotape' is the reproduction of the images and sounds of a program or programs, including commercials, broadcast by a television station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as tapes or motion pictures, in which the reproduction is embodied.

Mr. WON PAT. My sole intent in introducing H.R. 4965 was to assure that users of the Guam cable television system would not live in constant fear that their source of programing would be jeopardized by litigation.

Several days ago, I learned from Mr. Lee Holmes, owner of the Guam cable system, that his company has successfully concluded an agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America that would effectively resolve the question of copyright infringement and thus negate the need for my legislation. I wholeheartedly support the proposed amendments and request that H.R. 4965 be held in abeyance pending adoption of the new language.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I ask only that whatever language be adopted provide the viewers of cable television on Guam with protection against program interruption arising from copyright litigation. My appearance here today marks the second time in less than a month I have done so, Mr. Chairman, and the concern for the people of Guam which you and your colleagues on this subcommittee have shown is greatly appreciated.

I stand ready to answer any questions. Thank you.

Now, I would yield to Mr. Holmes, who will complete the testimony at this moment.

Mr. KASTEN MEIER. Thank you. I am going to ask Mr. Holmes to hold his testimony pending our return. The committee is informed, and the lights at the rear of the room and the buzzers inform us all, there is a vote taking place on the House floor, which we will have to go to. We will return and reconvene in approximately 15 minutes, and less possibly. I urge my colleagues to return forthwith. Until approximately 11:15, the committee stands in recess.

[Recess.]

Mr. KASTEN MEIER. The committee will come to order. Before we recessed, we heard the introduction of our next witness, Mr. Holmes, by the Honorable Antonio Borja Won Pat.

Mr. Holmes, you are most welcome.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Holmes follows:]

STATEMENT OF LEE HOLMES, PRESIDENT, GUAM CABLE TV SYSTEM

Mr. Chairman, members of the Subcommittee, it is indeed a pleasure to appear before you this morning. My name is Lee Holmes, I am president of Guam Cable TV System; seated on my right is my wife, Joan Holmes, a director and secretary of the Corporation, and to my left is Richard L. Brown, our Washington counsel. Guam Cable TV System operates a CATV system on Guam. It carries the offthe-air signals of two local stations, one is an educational station and one is a commercial station, KUAM-TV. Our company has approximately 150 shareholders, approximately 80% of which are Guamanians. Our company was developed with the financial assistance of the Guam Economic Development Authority. Therefore, not only are we a local service organization, but we are deeply rooted in our community.

Guam Cable TV System currently has approximately 12,000 subscribing families and we estimate that nearly 50,000 Guamanians view CATV programming on the system every day (the present population of Guam is approximately 100,000 persons).

Guam is 9,090 miles from Washington, D.C. Distance is the fact that has given rise to our special CATV problem. Ordinarily, CATV picks broadcast television signals out of the air and delivers them to subscribing customers. Sometimes this process is aided by use of microwave, which allows the transportation of broadcast signals for thousands of miles. However, the distance factor for Guam makes microwave unavailable as a practical matter and requires programs to be taped in the continental United States and then physically transported to Guam. It does not appear that satellite can ever be a solution to our special problem because of the time zone factor; that is, such transmissions would not be viewable at an appropriate time in Guam. For example, a satellite transmission of the Johnny Carson Show would take place in the late afternoon on Guam. Similarly, satellite transmission of Captain Kangaroo would take place in the wee hours of the morning.

The citizens of Guam should be able to receive the same television programming as is available to citizens located in counterpart markets in the contiguous states. Thus, Guam which is considered a smaller market under the Rules and Regulations of the FCC is entitled to the full programming of each of the three national networks, the programming of one independent station and the programming of at least one educational station. This programming is now provided to CATV subscribers in Guam through the mechanism of videotaping.

When the companion bill of HR 2223 was pending in the Senate in 1974 When the companion bill of HR 2223 was pending in the Senate in 1974 (S. 1361), it provided for the payment by CATV of specified copyright fees under a compulsory license. A compulsory license woudl be the equivalent of copyright consent without the necessity for obtaining that consent in each case. In other words, copyright holders by virtue of having authorized television stations to broadcast their material, would be deemed to have consented to CATV carriage. Prior to the addition of language which has come to be known as the "Stevens Amendment", the offshore systems that taped programing, i.e., in Guam and Alaska, would not have received compulsory licenses. Thus those systems were placed in an inferior position to cable systems located in the contiguous states. We have always viewed the "Stevens Amendment" as equity legislation designed to place the citizens of distant areas on the same footing as those in the forty eight contiguous states. That is, if the Congress decided to pass copyright legislation involving CATV, the provisions of such legislation should apply to the noncontiguous areas such as Guam.

Under the "Stevens Amendment", which imposes compulsory licenses on offshore systems, the Senate did away with the administrative and costly nightmare program by program and system by system negotiations entailed. Essentially, this is what the compulsory license of § 111 for mainland systems is all about in the first place.

As you know, S. 1361 did not get enacted into law and the bill was reintroduced as S. 22 in the Senate and is now pending before you as HR 2223. After passage of S. 1361 in the Senate, Guam Cable TV System continued to operate under threats of lawsuits; and in face of opposition to the "Stevens Amendment" by the Motion Picture Association, the National Association of Broadcasters and one or more networks. While we were happy that the Senate agreed with our position, and we believed that the House would also, we had no certain understanding of the length of time required for deliberation of the omnibus copyright bill in the House, and its enactment into law, and whether § 111 (CATV copyright liability) would be included. With great uncertainty as to our continuing ability to serve the residents of Guam and other areas of the Trust Territory of the Pacific, Mr. Won Pat, our Representative, introduced HR 4965, a bill that we hoped would expeditiously settle this very narrow copyright question by putting us in the same exact footing as mainland CATV systems.

Fortunately, Mr. Won Pat's bill contained many provisions that met the concerns of the copyright holders. With this in mind, our counsel arranged a meeting between Mr. Valenti and me in which we discussed the CATV system in Guam and set to work on amendments largely derived from Mr. Won Pat's bill, which we proposed to this committee. These amendments would perfect the "Stevens Amendment" and satisfy those seeking (1) payment for use of their product and

(2) protection of the integrity of that product; and would also satisfy those seeking a compulsory license under the proposed copyright law for use of that product.

Thus, the proposed legislation would, among other things, accomplish the following:

1. Apply the criminal provisions and other remedies of the copyright act to violations of the taping authority for the offshore systems affected;

2. Provide for only one time transmissions of the videotapes on the CATVS; 3. Prohibit deletion or editing of programs including the commercials that are contained within the story line of the programs. This would not affect the existing practice of deleting or otherwise altering or substituting commercial content at the beginning and end of programs;

4. Those systems engaged in taping must prevent the duplication of the tapes while in the system's possession and while in the possession of the taping facility and must take adequate precautions to prevent duplication while being transported. The system is also required to erase or destroy the tape or cause such erasure or destruction and to attest to the fact by an affidavit of an owner or officer of the CATV involved. Such affidavits must be kept open to public inspection in a public file at its office;

5. CATV transmissions must be those that would be permitted under the pertinent FCC Rules and Regulations if made by a system that were not taping. Importantly, because of (1) the complexity of FCC Rules and Regulations, (2) the likelihood that such regulations may from time to time be changed, and (3) the problems involving notification, proposed section (e) (1) (F) is explicitly inapplicable to inadvertent or accidental transmissions. This is designed specifically to insure against the institution of nuisance suits under the copyright law.

Paragraph (e) (2) applies similar restrictions to the process of sharing tapes among CATV systems to insure that such tapes do not find their way out of the CATV chain of distribution. It would also allow for cost sharing of the full costs attendant in making tapes available, i.e., costs of tape, production costs and delivery costs. Finally, Paragraph (e) (3) indicates that the legislation is not meant to supersede any existing agreements concerning exclusivity protection provided to broadcast stations.

It is our opinion that the adoption of the proposed amendments in HR 2223 would fully resolve our CATV/copyright problem and would avoid the necessity for any consideration at this time of HR 4965 legislation, Mr. Won Pat's bill. We believe this agreement among the parties constitutes a good faith effort to arrive at a reasonable solution to a complex problem. Our experience in the last several weeks indicates that a forthright and hardworking approach to settle this matter has been entered into and achieved and we urge this Committee's adoption of the proposed amendments.

As you know, the residents of the northern Marianas have voted to join the United States as a Commonwealth. The bill that would confer such status has passed the House and is now pending in the Senate. When it passes, they will join the people of Guam as our westernmost American citizens-6,000 miles off the California coast. As Americans in the world today, their freedom of speech includes access to television, our most widely distributed medium. We have all played a part in the proposed legislation and we believe enactment of these vital amendments will meet the daily need of these Americans.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify and I would be delighted to answer any of your questions.

Mr. HOLMES. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, it is indeed a pleasure to appear before you this morning. Mr. name is Lee Holmes; I am president of Guam Cable TV System; seated on my right is my wife, Joan Holmes, a director and secretary of the corporation; and to my left is Richard L. Brown, our Washington counsel. Guam Cable TV System operates a CATV system on Guam. It carries the off-the-air signals of two local stations; one is an educational station, and one is a commercial station, KUAM-TV. Our company has approximately 150 shareholders, approximately 80 percent of which are Guamanians. Our company was developed with the financial

57-786-76-pt. 3—22

assistance of the Guam Economic Development Authority. Therefore, not only are we a local service organization, but we are deeply rooted in our community.

Guam Cable TV system currently has approximately 12,027 subscribing families and we estimate that nearly 50,000 Guamanians view CATV programing on the system every day-the present population of Guam is approximately 100,000 persons.

Guam is 9,000 miles from Washington, D.C. Distance is the fact that has given rise to our special CATV problem. Ordinarily, CATV picks broadcast television signals out of the air and delivers them to subscribing customers. Sometimes this process is aided by the use of microwave relay which allows the transportation of broadcast signals for thousands of miles. However, the distance factor for Guam makes microwave unavailable as a practical matter and requires programs to be taped in the continental United States and then physically flown to Guam. It does not appear that satellite can ever be a solution to our special problem because of the time zone factor; that is, such transmissions would not be viewable at an appropriate time in Guam. For example, a satellite transmission of the Johnny Carson show would take place in the late afternoon on Guam. Similarly, satellite transmission of Captain Kangaroo would take place in the wee hours of the morning.

The citizens of Guam should be able to receive the same television programing as is available to citizens located in counterpart markets in the contiguous States. Thus, Guam which is considered a smaller market under the rules and regulations of the FCC is entitled to the full programing of each of the three national networks, the programing of one independent station, and the programing of at least one educational station. This programing is now provided to CATV subscribers in Guam through the mechanism of videotaping.

When the companion bill of H.R. 2223 was pending in the Senate in 1974, S. 1361, it provided for the payment by CATV of specified copyright fees under a compulsory license. A compulsory license would be the equivalent of copyright consent without the necessity for obtaining that consent in each case. In other words, copyright holders by virtue of having authorized television stations to broadcast their material, would be deemed to have consented to CATV carriage. Prior to the addition of language which has come to be known as the Stevens amendment, the offshore systems that taped programing, that is, in Guam and Alaska, would not have received compulsory licenses. Thus those systems were placed in an inferior position to cable systems located in the continguous States. We have always view the Stevens amendment as equity legislation designed to place the citizens of distant areas on the same footing as those in the 48 contiguous States. That is, if the Congress decided to pass copyright legislation involving CATV, the provisions of such legislation should apply to the noncontiguous areas such as Guam.

Under the Stevens amendment, which imposes compulsory licenses on offshore systems, the Senate did away with the administrative and costly nightmare program by program and system by system negotiations entailed. Essentially, this is what the compulsory license of section 111 for mainland systems is all about in the first place.

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