will be able to switch signal carriage, in response to competitive or public demands, only at two times during the year, the times of the ending of one copyright license period and the beginning of another period. Finally, it is difficult to see how the payment of pro rata fees would unduly burden the Copyright Office. The computation of pro rata fees is simple, and, as the Copyright Office has indicated, the Act already provides for a kind of pro rata fee for part-time carriage. In conclusion, Gill Industries submits that the copyright license fees imposed by the Act should be -- and, in fact, were intended to be based on actual retransmission. The Copyright Office's interpretation to the contrary flies in the face of the Act's legislative history, and severely restricts independent business judgments by individual cable systems. Respectfully submitted, GILL INDUSTRIES Kid Robert L. Heald RLH/RLP: Sc Robert L. Pettit Counsel for Gill Industries APPENDIX 1.H. THE NEW YORK TIMES, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1979 Canadian Cable TV Enters U.S. Franchises By ANDREW H. MALCOLM Special to The New York Times TORONTO, Nov. 11 Canadian cable TV companies, which got their head start pulling in American television signals for viewers to the north, are now homing in on a totally new market-the United States. Lured by the mushrooming American cable TV industry and armed with almost three decades of experience, the Canadian concerns have made signifi-' cant penetrations in recent months in diverse cable areas from California to New Jersey. Last month Canadian Cablesystem's scored a coup by winning the cable franchise for the city of Minneapolis against American competition from Time Inc., Storer Broadcasting and Warner Cable. Now Canadian-American competition is heating up in southern California and Portland, Ore., which has just requested franchise bids. 'A Huge Growth Market' "The United States is attractive to Canadian cable companies for the same reason it's attractive to American companies," Barry Gage, president of Maclean-Hunter Cable TV Ltd., said. "There's a huge growth market down there." With Canada's major markets virtually saturated with cable coverage, the logical place for growth is to the south, a theme developing in many Canadian industries. But while foreign companies are free to own cable TV systems in the United States, the same is not true in Canada, a fact that has prompted some Americans to cry foul. In Canada, a cable TV company must have 80 percent Canadian ownership and all of its directors must be Canadian. The provisions are intended to combat what Canadians see as America's pervasive cultural and media influences. Canadian cable executives point out that cable markets here are already highly developed. Attracted by cable's quality reception of the American networks, 74 percent of Canada's 7.2 million TV households have access to cable TV. More than 50 percent subscribe, compared with 20 percent in the United States. This has created a Canadian cable TV industry with more than 5,200 employees in 400 companies with gross operating revenues last year of $271.5 million and after-tax profits of $27.9 million. While Canadian cable TV jumped off to an early lead in technology and expertise, Government regulation in recent years has been slow to open new vistas. For instance, pay TV, which brings live sports events or first-run movies free of commercials into the home for a special monthly charge, is still prohibited here. Government officials say they hope to license some operators within a year. "This Government hesitancy and timidity is so utterly frustrating." Phil Continued on Page D2 Canadian Continued From Page D1 Lind, senior vice president of Canadian Cablesystems, said. “Canada has been cabled for so long and yet we're unable to go to the next plateau." In the United States, pay TV is a prolific cash earner that is taken by roughly half of cable subscribers. According to Randy Nichols of the Federal Communications Commission's Cable Bureau, there are no figures on foreign ownership among the 3,600 cable companies that operate 9,000 cable systems in the United States. His feeling, he said, was that such foreign ownership was insignificant, although growing, and that virtually all of it was Canadian. Expansion in Jersey Planned For instance, Maclean-Hunter, a Canadian communications conglomerate with 1978 revenues of $230 million, bought into New Jersey's Suburban Cablevision four years ago. It now owns 84.5 percent of the company. At present, it has 41 cable franchises with 65,000 subscribers in Essex, Union, Middlesex and Hudson counties. Within three years, however, MacleanHunter, which has 285,000 Canadian subscribers, expects to sign up at least half the 350,000 households in the area. In addition, under the names of Metro Cablevision and Wayne Cablevision, Maclean-Hunter has recently won the franchises for eight suburbs in the Detroit area where it also runs a pay-TV operation. From Vancouver earlier this year, Premier Cablevision Ltd. moved to buy 50 percent of California Satellite Systems Inc., a pay-TV operation with 37,000 subscribers in Sacramento. A similar system called Northwest Entertainment Inc., also half Canadianowned, will soon begin broadcasting in Stockton, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle. In January, Rogers Telecommunications here consolidated its control of several Canadian cable concerns, including Canadian Cablesystems, to become Canada's largest with 700,000 subscribers. The largest American cable system has 125,000 subscribers while the average system has 10,000. This week Canadian Cablesystems offered to buy control of Premier for $20 a share, potentially a $66 million deal. It requires government approval. The Rogers companies also are adding 2,000 subscribers a month to the 11,000 homes already hooked up to their cable system in Syracuse. "Our immediate goal in the next year or so," said Mr. Lind, "is to be in · front of a half million American homes with our cables. Where we go after that, we'll see." Erie, Pa., and southern California are other Rogers targets, he said. Rogers, like other Canadian companies, emphasizes its experience with large urban cable systems and with providing a local community TV station to broadcast group meetings, town councils, high school sports and other local events. Such a community channel is required of all cable operators by the Canadian Radio and Television Commission. Rogers, for instance, spends between 5 and 10 percent of its gross revenues to fund such community channels, Mr. Lind said. Experience with such operations has proved a valuable selling point for the Canadians seeking American franchises. "The American cable TV business," noted Mr. Lind, "is going to be absolutely explosive the next two or three years. Absolutely explosive." The Toronto cable TV executive spoke in a telephone interview between appointments in Portland, Ore. To amend the copyright law, title 17 of the United States Code, to create public performance rights with respect to sound recordings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Mr. DANIELSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the A BILL To amend the copyright law, title 17 of the United States Code, to create public performance rights with respect to sound recordings, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "Sound Re4 cording Performance Rights Amendment". SEC. 2. Section 101 of title 17 of the United States 6 Code is hereby amended by deleting the definition of "per 7 form" and inserting the following: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 "To 'perform' a work means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process. In the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to 'perform' the work means to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible. In the case of a sound recording, to 'perform' the work means to make audible the sounds of which it consists.". SEC. 3. Section 106 of title 17 of the United States 10 Code is hereby amended by deleting clause (4) and inserting 11 the following: 12 13 14 15 16 "(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, motion pictures, and other audiovisual works, and sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; and" SEC. 4. Section 110 of title 17 of the United States 17 Code is hereby amended as follows: 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (a) in clause (2) insert the words ", or of a sound recording," between the words "performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work" and "or display of a work,"; (b) in clause (3), insert the words "or of a sound recording," between the words "of a religious nature," and the words "or display of a work,”; |