FCC Seeks Comment on Application of the IP Closed Captioning Rules to Video Clips

The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau seeks updated information on the closed captioning of video clips delivered by Internet protocol (“IP”), including the extent to which industry has voluntarily captioned IP-delivered video clips.

In the IP Closed Captioning Order, pursuant to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (“CVAA”), the FCC imposed closed captioning requirements on the owners, providers, and distributors of IP-delivered video programming. The Commission determined that the IP closed captioning rules initially should apply to full-length programming and not to video clips, but it also stated its belief that Congress intended “to leave open the extent to which [video clips] should be covered under this section at some point in the future.” Specifically, the FCC noted that statements in the legislative history of the CVAA that Congress “intends, at this time, for the regulations to apply to full-length programming and not to video clips or outtakes,” suggested that Congress only intended to exclude video clips initially. Given Congress’s intent to “update the communications laws to help ensure that individuals with disabilities are able to . . . better access video programming,” the FCC stated that it may later determine that this intent is best served by requiring captioning of IP-delivered video clips. Although not required by the IP Closed Captioning Order, the FCC also encouraged video programming owners, providers, and distributors to provide closed captions for IP-delivered video clips, especially news clips. The Commission stated that if it finds that consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing are denied access to critical areas of programming, such as news, it may reconsider the need for a requirement to provide closed captioning on video clips to achieve Congressional intent.