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U.S. Copyright Office
NewsNet

March 12, 1999
Issue 41
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For additional information, visit the Copyright Office homepage at
http://www.copyright.gov.

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CONTENTS

* News *

Legislation
S. 303 Approved by Senate Commerce Committee
H.R. 1027 Approved by House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual
Property

* Calendar *

* To Subscribe/Unsubscribe to NewsNet*

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* NEWS *

For the complete text of Federal Register announcements, visit the
Copyright Office homepage at http://www.copyright.gov .

----------------Legislation----------------

S. 303 APPROVED BY SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE
S.303, a satellite licensing bill known as the Satellite Television Act
of 1999, was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee on March 10. The
bill would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to enhance the ability
of direct broadcast satellite and other multichannel video providers to
compete effectively with cable television systems, and for other
purposes.

H.R. 1027 APPROVED BY HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS
AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
H.R. 1027, which amends both the Copyright Act and the Communications
Act of 1934, extends the copyright compulsory license for satellite by 5
years, and creates a new compulsory license for retransmissions of local
broadcast stations by satellite, was forwarded by the Subcommittee to
the full Committee on the Judiciary on March 11.

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* CALENDAR *

April 1: Reply comments due on interim regulations on requirements by
which a copyright owner or its agent may provide notice to libraries and
archives that a published work in the final 20 years of its extended
term of copyright is subject to normal commercial exploitation or that a
copy or phonorecord of the work can be obtained at a reasonable price
(63 FR 71785)

April 5: Reply comments due on the proposed amendments to the
regulations governing royalty distribution and rate adjustment
proceedings prescribed by the Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform Act of
1993 (64 FR 3055 and 64 FR 3746).

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