This week, the FCC designated for hearing the license renewal applications for a number of Alabama radio stations because of their owner’s conviction on felony ethics violations, stemming from misconduct while he served in the Alabama legislature. The hearing is to determine the effect of those felony convictions on the character of the licensee to… Continue Reading…
The Return of the Fairness Doctrine – What it Was and Why it Won’t Return
It seems like whenever Democrats are elected to serve as President and take control of Congress, there is talk about the revival of the Fairness Doctrine as some panacea for restoring balance and civility to political debate. In recent weeks, we have seen many articles blaming conservative talk radio for the current divisions in the… Continue Reading…
Want a New Radio Station? FCC Proposes Procedures for a July 2021 Auction, Lists Channels to be Sold, and Imposes a Freeze on Certain Applications
The FCC yesterday announced plans to hold an auction to award construction permits allowing the winners to build new radio stations. The auction notice includes 136 FM channels and, in a new wrinkle, 4 AM opportunities, for which bids will be able to be placed once the auction commences. The list of channels to be auctioned… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 30, 2021 to February 5, 2021
The past week was another light one for broadcast regulation at the FCC. But here are some actions of note for broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Two Kentucky FM translator stations filed their license renewal applications nearly four months… Continue Reading…
Looking at the Performance Complement and Other Rules that Apply to Webcasting Companies Relying on the Sound Recording Statutory License
We are waiting on the Copyright Royalty Board to release its decision setting the royalties that webcasters (including broadcasters who simulcast their over-the-air programming on the Internet) will pay to SoundExhange for the public performance of sound recordings in the period 2021 through the end of 2025. As we wrote here, that decision would normally… Continue Reading…
A TV Broadcaster’s Guide to Where Washington Regulatory Issues Stand
Where do all the Washington DC legal issues facing TV broadcasters stand in these early days of a new Administration? While we try on this Blog to write about many of those issues, we can’t always address everything that is happening. Every few months, my partner David O’Connor and I update a list of the legal and… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 23, 2021 to January 29, 2021
Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. Often when a new administration takes over and a new Chairperson is installed at the FCC, some of the agency’s… Continue Reading…
Proposal for Reform of Copyright Act Released for Public Comment – Including Changes for the Safe Harbor for User-Generated Content, the Status of the Copyright Office, and Orphan Works
During the holidays, we did not get a chance to mention the draft legislation circulated by Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) proposing changes in the Copyright Act, including the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that created Section 512 of the Act – the safe harbor for user-generated content. The legislation also proposes other changes… Continue Reading…
February Regulatory Dates for Broadcasters: License Renewals, EEO Reporting, KidVid Reports, Zonecasting Comments, FCC Open Meeting, and More
With the federal government and the FCC under new management, Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel may well take the Commission in a direction that aligns with the policies she supported during her time as a Commissioner. It is notable that, no matter what policies she advances, the routine regulatory dates that fill up a broadcaster’s calendar… Continue Reading…
This Week in Regulation for Broadcasters: January 16, 2021 to January 22, 2021
Here are some of the regulatory developments of the last week of significance to broadcasters, with links to where you can go to find more information as to how these actions may affect your operations. President Joe Biden named Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chair of the FCC, where she will set the agenda for the… Continue Reading…
The Supreme Court Argument on Media Ownership – What’s Next?
On Tuesday, as has been covered in most of the broadcast trade press, the US Supreme Court held its oral argument in the Prometheus case. In this case, the FCC and a number of media companies seek to overturn the Third Circuit’s decision that threw out the FCC’s 2017 media ownership rule changes. As we… Continue Reading…
DOJ Ends its Review of ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees – For Now…What Does it Mean?
In 2019, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice began a review of the court-administered antitrust consent decrees that have bound ASCAP and BMI since the 1940s. We wrote about the issues in their review here. The formal review of these decrees began as part of the DOJ’s broader review of its antitrust… Continue Reading…
