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(2) Thereafter, during the calendar years specified below, any owner or user of a copyrighted work whose royalty rates are specified in the legislation, or by a rate established by the Commission, may file a petition with the Commission declaring that the petitioner requests an adjustment of the rate. If the Commission determines that the applicant has a significant interest in the royalty rate for which adjustment is requested, the Chairman of the Commission shall cause notice to be published in the Federal Register of this determination together with notice of the commencement of proceedings to adjust the rate.
- (A) In proceedings to adjust the cable television rates for certain purposes under Sections 801(b)(2)(A) and (D) such petitions may be filed during 1985 and in each subsequent fifth calendar year;
- (B) In proceedings under Section 801(b)(1) to adjust the mechanical royalty rate as provided in Section 115, such petitions may be filed in 1987 and in each subsequent tenth year;
- (C) In proceedings under Section 801(b)(1) to adjust the juke-box royalty rate as provided in Section 116, such petitions may be filed in 1990 and in each subsequent tenth calendar year.
Immediate Review of Cable Television Rates for Certain Purposes
Section 804(b) provides that following an event described in Section 801(b)(2)(B) or (C), any owner or user of a copyrighted work whose royalty rates are specified by Section 111, or by a rate established by the Commission, may, within 12 months, file a petition requesting an adjustment of the rates. In this event the Commission is required to proceed as in Section 804(a)(2). Any change in the royalty rates made by the Commission pursuant to this provision may be reconsidered in 1980, 1985, and each fifth calendar year thereafter in accordance with the provisions in Section 801(b)(2)(B) or (C).
The purpose of this provision is to reflect the Committee’s concern about any change in the rules and regulations of the FCC pertaining to cable carriage of distant signals or to syndicated or sports program exclusivity. The Committee believes that if these rules and regulations are revised, amended, or changed in any manner by the FCC, any owner or user of a copyrighted work should have an immediate right, exercisable for a 12 month period following the date such changes are finally effective, to request an adjustment of the royalty rates specified in Section 111. Further, it is the Committee’s intent that any change made by the Commission pursuant to such a petition may be reviewed again in 1980, 1985, and each subsequent fifth calendar year, as the case may be, and under the standards established in Sections 801(b)(2)(B) and (C). It is also the Committee’s intent that the ability to petition the Commission to adjust the rates pursuant to this subsection is not limited, following the first adjustment, to the subsequent five year periods specified, but may arise at any time as FCC rule changes described above take place.
