The FCC yesterday released two public notices about the procedures to be used in the upcoming radio license renewal cycle. These actions were previewed by the FCC at the NAB Convention last week (see our article here). As we wrote here and here, the license renewal cycle begins with the filing of license renewal applications...… Continue Reading
Has it been eight years already? It’s hard to believe, but yes – the license renewal cycle for radio stations is about to start over again, with preparatory on-air announcements already in progress. The TV cycle will start next year. In a Public Notice released today, The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or the “Commission”) Media...… Continue Reading
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) issued a Public Notice on April 11, 2019 (DA 19-278) in the proceeding relating to the use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band (referred to as the “C-band”). In its July 13, 2018 Order, the Commission announced that it would issue an information collection requirement for...… Continue Reading
The FCC yesterday released a Public Notice announcing the receipt of the Petition for Rulemaking asking that the FCC allow AM stations the option to operate an all-digital facility. We wrote about that Petition here. Currently, AM digital operations are allowed only in a hybrid mode – where the station transmits both an analog and...… Continue Reading
Questions about regulations from Washington don’t disappear just because you are spending time in Las Vegas, and this week’s NAB Convention brought discussion of many such issues. We’ll write about the discussion of antitrust issues that occurred during several sessions at the Convention in another post. But, today, we will report on news about more...… Continue Reading
Embedded in the Music Modernization Act signed into law in 2018 was a provision that extended most federal copyright protections to pre-1972 sound recordings. Prior to the enactment of the MMA, sound recordings made prior to February 15, 1972, may have been protected under state law, but federal copyright law protections did not apply. While […]
On March 15, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or the “Commission”) released a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) seeking comment on how the Commission can improve its secondary market rules for spectrum transactions. Specifically, the FCC wants to know whether and how it can improve its secondary market rules to get more spectrum in...… Continue Reading
The developments surrounding the regulation of cannabis products, and the impact of that regulation on the ability of broadcasters and other media companies to run ads for these products, continue on an almost daily basis. Of course, the developments don’t all point in a single direction. As described below, at the same time as the...… Continue Reading
WINDOW FOR LIMITING PRE-72 SOUND RECORDING OWNERS’ ABILITY TO COLLECT CRIPPLING DAMAGES AWARDS FROM YOU IS RAPIDLY CLOSING If you are an “Oldies” station – or you play more than a handful of songs from the early 60s/early 70s (or before) in a given week – then this post is for you. There is a...… Continue Reading