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FCC Enforcement Monitor ~ April 2019

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others. This month’s issue includes: FCC Revokes License for Unpaid Regulatory Fees; Warns Other Stations of Similar Fate Texas Station Warned Over Multiple Tower and…

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C-Band Certification Deadline Nearing

Last April, the broadcast industry was abuzz with the need to register previously unlicensed earth stations in order to reduce the chance of future displacement. In April 2018, the deadline for submitting the registrations was announced, and after two extensions, all fixed-satellite service (FSS) earth stations in use prior to…

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Deadline to Avoid Pre-1972 Sound Recording Statutory Damages Is Almost Here

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…

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FCC Waives Quarterly Repack Reports for Certain TV Stations

In a Public Notice released this afternoon, the FCC waived certain quarterly Transition Progress Report requirements for stations in Phases 3, 5, and 8 of the post-auction repack process. As subscribers to Pillsbury’s legal advisories are aware, stations that were assigned a new channel as part of the post-Incentive Auction…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor ~ March 2019

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes: Oregon LPFM Station Warned Over Emergency Alert System Violations Pennsylvania Man Accused of Interfering With Local Fire Department Operations Earth…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor ~ February 2019

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes: Headlines: FCC Fines Kentucky Men $144,344 for Illegally Operating LPTV Station for 18 Years North Carolina Radio Station Settles With…

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FCC Eliminates EEO Mid-Term Report Filings

At its February 14th meeting, the FCC gave a rather significant Valentine’s Day gift to broadcasters, eliminating the requirement that larger radio and television stations submit the EEO Mid-Term Report (FCC Form 397) at the midpoint of their license terms.  While the FCC will continue to conduct EEO mid-term reviews,…

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FCC Enforcement Monitor ~ January 2019

Pillsbury’s communications lawyers have published FCC Enforcement Monitor monthly since 1999 to inform our clients of notable FCC enforcement actions against FCC license holders and others.  This month’s issue includes: Headlines: Alabama FM Licensee Admits to On-Air Contest and Unauthorized Transfer of Control Violations Silicon Valley Start-Up Agrees to Pay…

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Breaking News: FCC Extends Its Extension of Already Extended Deadlines

Late today, the FCC released a Public Notice further extending the deadlines for filings that it extended yesterday, which it had already extended by a Public Notice released before the FCC shutdown on January 3 (did you follow that?).  Skipping over those intermediate steps, the final result now boils down to this…

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Broadcasters Scramble as FCC Reopens and Announces New Filing Deadlines

With the partial government shutdown mercifully at an end (for now), broadcasters must hurry to update their Online Public Inspection File and make up for a month’s worth of missed filings. As we wrote earlier this month, filing deadlines that landed during the shutdown were extended (with a few exceptions)…