Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB2377 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Geren (Senate Sponsor - Eltife) H.B. No. 2377
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 4, 2013;
3	3	April 9, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Administration; April 29, 2013, reported favorably by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the use of legislatively produced audio or visual
11	11	materials; providing penalties.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 306.005, Government Code, is amended to
14	14	read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 306.005. USE OF LEGISLATIVELY PRODUCED AUDIO OR VISUAL
16	16	MATERIALS IN POLITICAL ADVERTISING PROHIBITED. (a) A person may
17	17	not use audio or visual [video] materials produced by or under the
18	18	direction of the legislature or of a house, committee, or agency of
19	19	the legislature in political advertising.
20	20	(b) After a formal hearing held as provided by Subchapter E,
21	21	Chapter 571, the Texas Ethics Commission may impose a civil penalty
22	22	against a person who violates this section. The amount of the
23	23	penalty may not exceed $5,000 for each violation.
24	24	(c) Subsection (a) does not prohibit describing or quoting
25	25	the verbal content of the audio or visual [video] materials in
26	26	political advertising.
27	27	(d) Subsection (a) does not apply to a photograph of a
28	28	current or former member of the legislature obtained from a house,
29	29	committee, or agency of the legislature that is used in accordance
30	30	with terms and conditions established by the entity from which the
31	31	photograph was obtained.
32	32	(e) In this section:
33	33	(1) "Political [, "political] advertising" has the
34	34	meaning assigned by Section 251.001, Election Code.
35	35	(2) "Visual materials" means photographic, video, or
36	36	other material containing a still or moving recorded image or
37	37	images.
38	38	SECTION 2. Chapter 306, Government Code, is amended by
39	39	adding Section 306.0055 to read as follows:
40	40	Sec. 306.0055. LEGISLATIVELY PRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHS. A
41	41	house, committee, or agency of the legislature may charge for a
42	42	photograph produced by or under the direction of the entity the fair
43	43	market value of the photograph.
44	44	SECTION 3. Section 306.006, Government Code, is amended to
45	45	read as follows:
46	46	Sec. 306.006. COMMERCIAL USE OF LEGISLATIVELY PRODUCED
47	47	AUDIO OR VISUAL MATERIALS. (a) A person may not use audio or visual
48	48	[video] materials produced by or under the direction of the
49	49	legislature or of a house, committee, or agency of the legislature
50	50	for a commercial purpose unless the legislative entity that
51	51	produced the audio or visual [video] materials or under whose
52	52	direction the audio or visual [video] materials were produced gives
53	53	its permission for the person's commercial use and:
54	54	(1) the person uses the audio or visual [video]
55	55	materials only for educational or public affairs programming,
56	56	including news programming, that does not also constitute a use
57	57	prohibited under Section 306.005; or
58	58	(2) the person transmits [to paid subscribers] an
59	59	unedited feed of the audio or visual materials:
60	60	(A) to paid subscribers; or
61	61	(B) on an Internet website that is accessible to
62	62	the public.
63	63	(b) A person who violates Subsection (a) commits an offense.
64	64	An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor.
65	65	(c) The legislative entity that produced the audio or visual
66	66	[video] materials or under whose direction the audio or visual
67	67	[video] materials were produced shall give its permission to a
68	68	person to use the materials for a commercial purpose described by
69	69	Subsection (a)(1) if the person or the person's representative
70	70	submits to the legislative entity a signed, written request for the
71	71	use that:
72	72	(1) states the purpose for which the audio or visual
73	73	[video] materials will be used and the stated purpose is allowed
74	74	under Subsection (a)(1); and
75	75	(2) contains an agreement by the person that the audio
76	76	or visual materials will not be used for a commercial purpose other
77	77	than the stated purpose.
78	78	(d) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to visual materials
79	79	consisting of photographs or other still images. A [The]
80	80	legislative entity is not required to give its permission to any
81	81	person to use [the] materials for a purpose described by Subsection
82	82	(a)(2) and may limit the number of persons to whom it gives its
83	83	permission to use [the] materials for a purpose described by
84	84	Subsection (a)(2).
85	85	(e) Subsection (a) and an agreement under Subsection (c)(2)
86	86	do not prohibit compiling, describing, quoting from, analyzing, or
87	87	researching the verbal content of the audio or visual materials for
88	88	a commercial purpose.
89	89	(f) In addition to the criminal penalty that may be imposed
90	90	under Subsection (b), the attorney general shall enforce this
91	91	section at the request of the legislative entity by bringing a civil
92	92	action to enjoin a violation of Subsection (a) or of an agreement
93	93	under Subsection (c)(2).
94	94	(g) In this section:
95	95	(1) "Commercial [, "commercial] purpose" means a
96	96	purpose that is intended to result in a profit or other tangible
97	97	benefit.
98	98	(2) "Visual materials" has the meaning assigned by
99	99	Section 306.005.
100	100	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
101	101	to an offense or other violation of the law amended by this Act
102	102	committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense or
103	103	other violation of that law committed before the effective date of
104	104	this Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense or
105	105	violation was committed, and the former law is continued in effect
106	106	for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense or other
107	107	violation was committed before the effective date of this Act if any
108	108	element of the offense or violation was committed before that date.
109	109	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
110	110	* * * * *