Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994
Public Law 103-369 · S. 2406 · 103rd Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 18, 1994 · Commerce
Sponsor: Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Orrin Hatch
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 - Amends copyright law with respect to satellite carrier compulsory licenses to require the subscriber information list submitted by a satellite carrier that makes secondary transmissions of a primary transmission by a network station to include the names of the subscribers.
Provides that in any action relating to the violation of territorial restrictions on statutory license for network stations the satellite carrier shall have the burden of proving that its secondary transmission is for private home viewing to an unserved household.
Revises: (1) the formula used by the satellite carrier to compute the royalty fee to be deposited semiannually with the Register of Copyrights to increase the fees for secondary transmissions subject to statutory licensing; and (2) dates and procedures regarding the adjustment of such royalty fee. Requires a copyright royalty arbitration panel, in determining such fees, to establish fees for the retransmission of network stations and superstations that most clearly represent the fair market value of secondary transmissions. Directs the panel to base its decision upon economic, competitive, and programming information presented by the parties, including: (1) the competitive environment in which such programming is distributed, the cost for similar signals in similar private and compulsory license marketplaces, and any special features and conditions of the retransmission marketplace; (2) the economic impact of such fees on copyright owners and satellite carriers; and (3) the impact on the continued availability of secondary transmissions to the public
Provides that, upon a challenge by a network station regarding whether a subscriber is an unserved household, a satellite carrier shall terminate service to the household and notify the network station of such termination or conduct a measurement of the signal intensity of the subscribers's household, after notifying the network station, to determine whether the household is unserved and, if so, terminate service. Requires the challenging station to reimburse a carrier for any signal intensity measurement that indicates the household is an unserved household.
Revises the definition of a "network station" for purposes of cable and satellite carrier compulsory license provisions to be: (1) a television broadcast station owned or operated by, or affiliated with, one or more of the U.S. television networks which offer an interconnected program service on a regular basis for 15 or more hours per week to at least 25 of its affiliated television licensees in ten or more States; or (2) any noncommercial educational station. Revises the definition of: (1) "satellite carrier" to specify that such a carrier operates in the Fixed Satellite Service or the Direct Broadcast Satellite Service; (2) "cable system" to include a facility that makes secondary transmissions of broadcast signals by microwave cables; and (3) "local service area of a primary transmitter" (in the case of a television broadcast station) to comprise either the area of which such station is entitled to insist upon its signal being retransmitted by a cable system pursuant to the rules, regulations, and authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on April 15, 1976, such station's television market (as in effect on September 18, 1993), or any subsequent modifications to such television market.
(Sec. 4) Terminates the provisions of section 2 of this Act on December 31, 1999.
Committees
The record shows no committee referral for this bill.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 9 actions.
- Oct 18, 1994Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 103-369.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 7, 1994PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 4, 1994Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment by Voice Vote.
- Sep 20, 1994FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Brooks moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
- Aug 18, 1994FloorFloor · Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, and passed without amendment by Voice Vote.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.