U.S. Copyright Office Releases Pay.gov Form For SA3 Cable Systems to Pay the Sports Surcharge
Issue No. 772 - June 25, 2019
On December 6, 2018, the Copyright Royalty Board issued a final rule, effective January 1, 2019, that requires affected cable systems to pay a separate per-program royalty (the Sports Surcharge) in addition to the requisite royalties under the section 111 license. The Sports Surcharge applies only to certain Form SA3 filers for the secondary transmission of live, non-network broadcasts of sports events on a distant television station carried by the cable system that would have been subject to blackout under the Federal Communication Commission’s sports exclusivity rule (FCC Sports Blackout Rule) prior to its repeal in 2014.
The Copyright Office has released a Sports Surcharge Addendum (Form SS), accessed through Pay.gov, for cable systems required to pay the Sports Surcharge. To access the Sports Surcharge Addendum, click here. To access instructions on filing the Sports Surcharge Addendum, click here.