Eliminating Network Nondupe Rule Should Be Paused, NBCUniversal Says
Doing away with the network nonduplication rule should be put on the back burner until the FCC first tackles possible changes to the totality of circumstances test and until the GAO has finished a proceeding on whether compulsory copyright licenses…
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should be eliminated, NBCUniversal said in an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 10-71. Network nondupe protects against network programming duplication, helping preserve the value of programming and ensuring local broadcasters have the dual revenue stream of advertising revenue and retransmission consent fees that they rely upon, NBCUniversal said. The rule also "serves as an essential counterweight" to compulsory copyright licensing, giving a route for protecting nonduplication rights, and Congress has been clear that it sees value in the protections that come with the exclusivity rules, NBCUniversal said. "It is a hollow argument to suggest that the Commission's limited role in enforcing nonduplication protection is no longer needed because the parties can craft private remedies and then, in a separate and ongoing proceeding, proposed to eviscerate those same remedies," NBCUniversal said, pointing to the FCC's looking at changes to the totality of circumstances test. The filing recapped meetings between a variety of NBCUniversal executives and Commissioners Michael O'Rielly, Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn's chief of staff.