By: Thompson	H.B. No. 3125

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to unauthorized recordings of a live performance.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 641.001, Business & Commerce Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec 641.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1)  "Fix" means to embody in a recording or other
	tangible medium of expression, by or under the authority of the
	author, so that the matter embodied is sufficiently permanent or
	stable to permit it to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
	communicated for a period of more than transitory duration.
	(2)  "Live performance" means a recitation, rendering,
	or playing of a series, in an audible sequence, of:
	(A)  images;
	(B)  musical, spoken, or other sounds; or
	(C)  a combination of images and sounds.
	(3)  "Owner" means a person who owns the sounds fixed in
	a master phonograph record, master disc, master tape, master film,
	or other recording:
	(A)  on which sound is recorded; and
	(B)  from which the transferred recorded sounds
	are directly or indirectly derived.
	(3) (4)  "Recording" means a tangible medium on which
	sounds, images, or both are recorded or otherwise stored,
	including:
	(A)  an original phonograph record, disc, tape,
	audio or video cassette, wire, film, electronic storage device, or
	other medium now existing or later developed; or
	(B)  a copy or reproduction that wholly or partly
	duplicates the original.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 641.001 Business & Commerce Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 641.052.  UNAUTHORIZED RECORDING OF LIVE PERFORMANCE.
	(a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Artist" means a person who contacts to perform or
	entertain at a live entertainment event.
	(2)  "Live entertainment event" means an event that
	occurs on a specific date and at which:
	(A)  an individual or a group of individuals,
	physically present at the venue, performs and or rehearses for the
	purpose of entertaining a person who is present at the event.
	(B)  a traveling circus or animal show performs
	for the purpose of entertaining a person who is present at the
	event; or
	(C)  a historical, museum-quality artifact is on
	display at an exhibition.
	(3)  "Live Performance" means a recitation, rendering,
	or playing of a series, in an audible sequence, of
	(A)  images;
	(B)  musical, spoken or other sounds; or
	(C)  a combination of images and sounds.
	(4)  "Promoter" means an individual contacted by an
	artist to promote, organize, coordinate, operate, and manage a live
	entertainment event.  The term includes services related to:
	(A)  the provision of staff for the live
	entertainment event; or
	(B)  the schedule and promotion of an artist
	performing or entertaining at the live entertainment event.
	(b)  A person commits an offense if the person, with the
	knowledge that a live performance has been recorded or fixed
	without the consent of the owner:
	(1)  for commercial advantage or private financial
	gain, advertises, offers for sale, sells, rents, or transports,
	causes the sale, resale, rental, or transportation of, or possesses
	for one or more of these purposes a recording containing sounds of
	the live performance; or
	(2)  with the intent to sell for commercial advantage
	or private financial gain, records or fixes the live performance,
	or causes the live performance to be recorded or fixed on a
	recording.
	(c) (b)  An offense under this section is punishable by:
	(1)  imprisonment for a term of not more than five
	years, not to exceed $250,000, or both, if:
	(A)  the offense involves at least 1,000
	unauthorized recordings embodying sound or at least 65 unauthorized
	audiovisual recordings during a 180-day period; or
	(B)  the defendant has been previously convicted
	under this section;
	(2)  imprisonment for a term of not more than two years,
	a fine not to exceed $250,000, or both, if the offense involves more
	than 100 but fewer than 1,000 unauthorized recordings embodying
	sound or more than seven but fewer than 65 unauthorized audiovisual
	recordings during a 180-day period; or
	(3)  confinement in the county jail for a term of not
	more than one year, a fine not to exceed $25,000, or both, if the
	offense is not otherwise punishable under Subdivision (1) or (2).
	(c) (d)  A promoter and an artist are mandated pursuant to
	this chapter, regarding a contract for the artist's performance at
	a live entertainment event to:
	(1)  distribute any recording revenue and event
	proceeds, in the form of a payments to each other as contractually
	stipulated; and
	(2)  agree to and secure permission for the recording
	of the live entertainment event in writing before the event is
	recorded.
	(d) (f)  In the absence of a written agreement or law to the
	contrary, the performer or performers of a live performance are
	presumed to own the rights to record or fix those sounds.
	(g)  For purposes of this section, a person authorized to
	maintain custody and control over business records that reflect
	whether the owner of a live performance consented to having the live
	performance recorded or fixed is a proper witness in a proceeding
	regarding the issue of consent.  A witness called under this
	subsection is subject to the rules of evidence relating to the
	competency of a witness to testify and the relevance and
	admissibility of the testimony offered.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
	An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect at the time of the offense was
	committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
	purpose.  For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
	before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
	occurred before that date.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.