§ 513. — Determination of reasonable license fees for individual proprietors.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 17USC513]
TITLE 17--COPYRIGHTS
CHAPTER 5--COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND REMEDIES
Sec. 513. Determination of reasonable license fees for
individual proprietors
In the case of any performing rights society subject to a consent
decree which provides for the determination of reasonable license rates
or fees to be charged by the performing rights society, notwithstanding
the provisions of that consent decree, an individual proprietor who owns
or operates fewer than 7 non-publicly traded establishments in which
nondramatic musical works are performed publicly and who claims that any
license agreement offered by that performing rights society is
unreasonable in its license rate or fee as to that individual
proprietor, shall be entitled to determination of a reasonable license
rate or fee as follows:
(1) The individual proprietor may commence such proceeding for
determination of a reasonable license rate or fee by filing an
application in the applicable district court under paragraph (2)
that a rate disagreement exists and by serving a copy of the
application on the performing rights society. Such proceeding shall
commence in the applicable district court within 90 days after the
service of such copy, except that such 90-day requirement shall be
subject to the administrative requirements of the court.
(2) The proceeding under paragraph (1) shall be held, at the
individual proprietor's election, in the judicial district of the
district court with jurisdiction over the applicable consent decree
or in that place of holding court of a district court that is the
seat of the Federal circuit (other than the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit) in which the proprietor's establishment is located.
(3) Such proceeding shall be held before the judge of the court
with jurisdiction over the consent decree governing the performing
rights society. At the discretion of the court, the proceeding shall
be held before a special master or magistrate judge appointed by
such judge. Should that consent decree provide for the appointment
of an advisor or advisors to the court for any purpose, any such
advisor shall be the special master so named by the court.
(4) In any such proceeding, the industry rate shall be presumed
to have been reasonable at the time it was agreed to or determined
by the court. Such presumption shall in no way affect a
determination of whether the rate is being correctly applied to the
individual proprietor.
(5) Pending the completion of such proceeding, the individual
proprietor shall have the right to perform publicly the copyrighted
musical compositions in the repertoire of the performing rights
society by paying an interim license rate or fee into an interest
bearing escrow account with the clerk of the court, subject to
retroactive adjustment when a final rate or fee has been determined,
in an amount equal to the industry rate, or, in the absence of an
industry rate, the amount of the most recent license rate or fee
agreed to by the parties.
(6) Any decision rendered in such proceeding by a special master
or magistrate judge named under paragraph (3) shall be reviewed by
the judge of the court with jurisdiction over the consent decree
governing the performing rights society. Such proceeding, including
such review, shall be concluded within 6 months after its
commencement.
(7) Any such final determination shall be binding only as to the
individual proprietor commencing the proceeding, and shall not be
applicable to any other proprietor or any other performing rights
society, and the performing rights society shall be relieved of any
obligation of nondiscrimination among similarly situated music users
that may be imposed by the consent decree governing its operations.
(8) An individual proprietor may not bring more than one
proceeding provided for in this section for the determination of a
reasonable license rate or fee under any license agreement with
respect to any one performing rights society.
(9) For purposes of this section, the term ``industry rate''
means the license fee a performing rights society has agreed to
with, or which has been determined by the court for, a significant
segment of the music user industry to which the individual
proprietor belongs.
(Added Pub. L. 105-298, title II, Sec. 203(a), Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat.
2831, Sec. 512; renumbered Sec. 513, Pub. L. 106-44, Sec. 1(c)(1), Aug.
5, 1999, 113 Stat. 221.)
Amendments
1999--Pub. L. 106-44 renumbered section 512 of this title as this
section.
Effective Date
Section effective 90 days after Oct. 27, 1998, see section 207 of
Pub. L. 105-298, set out as an Effective Date of 1998 Amendments note
under section 101 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 101 of this title.
