Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 26, 2011

The FCC has released its EAS Handbook , specially directed to the Nationwide EAS Alert that will occur on November 9. This Handbook is to be posted at all stations that are participants in the EAS Network (which is virtually all stations) for purposes of this test only (stations should also have the standard EAS Handbook at their control points, but this Handbook will be used for the Nationwide Test).

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The Paralegal Resource

OCTOBER 13, 2011

An inventor may file a provisional patent application to protect an idea while she continues to refine and develop that idea. For example, the inventor may begin work on a promising stent material concept for reducing scarring around a stent inserted in an artery. To protect the innovation, the inventor may file a provisional application detailing all the inventor knows about how the invention will be implemented.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2011

Many radio broadcasters have recently received a notice from a company called Mission Abstract Data, asking to begin discussions about royalty payments for the use of digital music storage systems, which that company claims fall under a patent they control. This claim seemingly covered systems used by most music radio stations – systems sold by several well-known companies in the broadcast industry.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2011

In anticipation of the new auction of 123 FM channels scheduled for March 2012 (about which we wrote here ) the FCC has frozen the filing of FM applications and rulemaking requests which seek changes in the frequencies of any of the channels proposed for inclusion in the auction or which otherwise fail to protect the reference coordinates for these channels.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 21, 2011

Yesterday, the FCC released an Order that reversed a five-year-old decision by its Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (“CGB” or “Bureau”) that had granted certain video programmers “undue burden” exemptions from the FCC’s closed captioning rules. The reversed Bureau decision had changed the criteria for undue burden exemptions and permanently exempted two video programmers from compliance with the closed captioning rules on the basis of the new cri

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Broadcast stations must charge political candidates the lowest unit rate that they charge any commercial advertiser for a comparable advertising spot during the 45 days before a primary and the 60 days before a general election. Broadcasters need to remember that this applies to state and local races, as well as Federal campaigns, so those charges must be given to candidates for upcoming off-year November elections that are to be held in many states in less than a month.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 3, 2011

The end of September marks the close of the Third Quarter of 2011, which brings two quarterly filing obligations for broadcast stations. The first obligation is that by October 10 all radio and television stations, both commercial and noncommercial, must prepare and place in their public inspection file Quarterly Issues Programs Lists reporting on the important issues facing the stations' communities, and the programs aired in the months of July, August, and September that dealt with those issue

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 31, 2011

As Federal funding to public broadcasters faces serious challenge in a Washington looking to cut the budget for all but the most essential government services, and where voluntary contributions to all noncommercial broadcasters have been constrained by the economic issues faced by the entire nation, more and more noncommercial broadcasters are facing tough questions about the future.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 12, 2011

The tenuous legal status of marijuana advertising on broadcast stations just got a little more tenuous as a Federal prosecutor in Southern California has reportedly indicated an intent to prosecute radio and TV stations , as well as newspapers and magazines, that advertise medical marijuana clinics. As we have written before , advertising such clinics was always a legal grey area, as marijuana use and possession is still a Federal felony, even though many states have passed laws to decriminalize

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 20, 2011

So just what legal, regulatory and legislative issues are currently facing broadcasters in Washington? On Tuesday, I did a panel at the Connecticut Broadcasters Association's Annual Convention in Hartford with Kelly Cole, the Senior Vice President for Government Relations at the NAB. In putting together our presentation, one of the most striking things to me was the number of different issues facing broadcasters with which the NAB is dealing. 57 different issues are set forth on the slides from

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 28, 2011

The full text of the FCC's Order overturning its 2007 decision on online public inspection files for TV broadcasters and the adoption of the Form 355 "enhanced disclosure form" has now been released. This order, adopted at the FCC's open meeting this week (held on October 27, 2011, which we wrote about here ), also contains a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking again suggesting an online public file, but this time it would be one hosted by the FCC.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 27, 2011

At its meeting today, the FCC vacated its 2007 Order mandating an online public file and the filing of the Form 355 “Enhanced Disclosure” form that detailed the public interest service of television broadcasters. But these requirements are not gone, as the Commission has adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking asking to reinstate an obligation for an online public file, and a Notice of Inquiry is apparently circulating at the FCC that would propose a substitute for the Form 3

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 27, 2011

When the requirement that broadcasters have an antidiscrimination provision in their advertising contracts became effective, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau issued a Fact Sheet that stated that broadcasters needed to make sure that this provision was not only in their own contracts, but also in that of rep firms and others who sold advertising on behalf of the stations (see our coverage here ).

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 19, 2011

The FCC this week ordered an FM translator in Detroit to shut down as it caused interference to the reception of a full-power FM station from Toledo. The translator had been rebroadcasting the HD2 signal of another area station, in effect introducing a new analog station in the Detroit area, to bring back a smooth jazz format that had left the city a few years ago.

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The Paralegal Resource

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Lawyers have several sets of rules to consider when creating advertisements. The FTC regulates all advertising in every state; each state may have its own regulations governing advertising; and the attorney ethics rules of the state in which you are advertising will regulate lawyer advertising. A review of FTC rules can be seen at [link] Most rules are just plain common sense and are meant to protect the public.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Online public files , detailed reports about virtually every program aired on a television station as to its source and whether it addressed various types of perceived community interests, and other paperwork requirements that would have required most television stations to hire a new employee just to deal with the burden, were all part of mandatory television public interest reporting requirements adopted by the FCC back in 2007 (see our articles here and here on these reports on FCC Form 355).

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Have you received a claim that some system that your station is using, such as the system for digital storage of your music library, is infringing a patent ? Don’t ignore it! We understand that a number of radio stations have received these sorts of notices. There have been many recent situations where patent holders have alleged that broadcasters or digital media companies have infringed their patents.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 2, 2011

The FCC Form 323 is now available for filing by all commercial broadcasters. The Form must be submitted by December 1 of this year. In 2009, the FCC adopted the requirement for a biennial ownership report for all commercial stations, to be filed by November 1 every other year, with information accurate as of October 1. In 2009, the new electronic form had issues, so filing deadlines were delayed until June.

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Broadcast Law Blog

OCTOBER 18, 2011

While the off-year elections of 2011 are not yet history, the Lowest Unit Rate period for the 2012 Presidential election will soon be upon many stations in the early primary and caucus states. Last week, Bobby Baker, the head of the FCC's Office of Political Programming , and I conducted a webinar for 13 state broadcast associations to provide a refresher on the political broadcasting obligations of broadcasters.

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