§ 76.124 - Requirements for invocation of protection.

§ 76.124 Requirements for invocation of protection.

For a television broadcast station licensee or distributor of syndicated programming to be eligible to invoke the provisions of § 76.122 or § 76.123 of this subpart, it must have a contract or other written indicia that it holds network program non-duplication or syndicated exclusivity rights for the exhibition of the program in question. Contracts entered on or after November 29, 2000, must contain the following words: “the licensee [or substitute name] shall, by the terms of this contract, be entitled to invoke the protection against duplication of programming imported under the Statutory Copyright License, as provided in § 76.122 or § 76.123 of the FCC rules [or 'as provided in the FCC's satellite network non-duplication or syndicated exclusivity rules'].” Contracts entered into prior to November 29, 2000, must contain the foregoing language plus a clear and specific reference to the licensee's authority to exercise exclusivity rights as to the specific programming against signal carriage by the satellite carrier in question, or by satellite carriage in general in a protected, geographic or specified zone. In the absence of such a specific reference in contracts entered into prior to November 29, 2000, the provisions of these rules may be invoked only if the contract is amended to include the specific language referenced in this section or a specific written acknowledgment is obtained from the party from whom the broadcast exhibition rights were obtained that the existing contract was intended, or should now be construed by agreement of the parties, to include such rights. A general acknowledgment by a supplier of exhibition rights that specific contract language was intended to convey rights under these rules will be accepted with respect to all contracts containing that specific language. Nothing in this section shall be construed as a grant of exclusive rights to a broadcaster where such rights are not agreed to by the parties.