NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8961

Senate Bill S8961

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Requires certain motion picture theaters to provide scheduled showings of motion pictures with open motion picture captioning

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Consumer Protection Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Apr 03, 2024	referred to consumer protection

2023-S8961 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9947
Current Committee:: Senate Consumer Protection
Law Section:: General Business Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 45 §§1450 - 1454, Gen Bus L

2023-S8961 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires a motion picture theater that offers more than ten motion picture showings per week to provide scheduled showings of motion pictures with open motion picture captioning such that at least one quarter of all showings of a motion picture with four or more showings during a one-week time period shall have open motion picture captioning; provides exceptions and penalties for violations.

2023-S8961 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8961

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the general business law, in relation to requiring
certain motion picture theaters to provide scheduled showings of motion
pictures with open motion picture captioning

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Requires motion picture theaters offering more than ten motion picture
showings per week to provide open motion picture captioning for a speci-
fied number of showings and establishes civil penalties for motion
picture theaters that fail to comply. This bill expands a requirement
for open motion picture captioning in New York City to the rest of the
State in order to promote accessibility in motion picture theaters for
the deaf and hard of hearing.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds a new article 45 to the general business law to require

that motion picture theaters that offer more than ten motion picture
showings per week provide a certain number of scheduled showings with
open captioning. Covered theaters must ensure half of scheduled showings
with open captioning occur during peak motion picture attendance hours.
Covered motion picture theaters that violate any provisions of this
article shall be subject to a civil penalty of not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for each violation.

Section 2 provides that the bill shall take effect on the one hundred
and twentieth day after it shall have become law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Currently, federal regulations require movie theaters to provide indi-
vidual viewing devices that display dialogue in writing as closed
captions, visible only to patrons with the viewing devices. While this
provides deaf and hard of hearing Americans some access to cinema, these
closed-captioning devices can be distracting for users.  Of particular
concern, movie theaters fail to properly maintain working devices, and
users recount frequent battery outages and malfunctions. As a result of
these difficulties, movie theaters are not fully accessible or comforta-
ble environments for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

To address these concerns, jurisdictions such as Hawaii and New York
City now mandate a minimum of open caption motion picture showings.
Similar legislation is pending in many other states and cities, includ-
ing Maryland, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington D.C. In contrast to
closed captions, open captions provide text at the bottom of the screen
that is visible to all viewers in the theater. While open captions
particularly serve the deaf and hard of hearing community, they benefit
many others, including English language learners. Younger Americans in
particular have expressed a preference for captioned media. A 2023
survey revealed that 63% of adults under 30 prefer watching captioned
media (YouGov). In a testament to the popularity of open caption show-
ings, some large movie theaters have begun to offer screenings without a
legal mandate. AMC Theaters, for instance, offers certain open caption
showings at 240 of its locations. This bill, however, would ensure deaf,
hard-of-hearing, and multilingual New Yorkers can enjoy movie theaters,
no matter where they live in the state.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and twentieth day after it
shall have become law.

2023-S8961 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8961
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               April 3, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HOYLMAN-SIGAL -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection
 
 AN ACT to amend the general  business  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
   certain  motion  picture  theaters  to  provide  scheduled showings of
   motion pictures with open motion picture captioning

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article
 45 to read as follows:
 
                                ARTICLE 45
                              OPEN CAPTIONING
 SECTION 1450. DEFINITIONS.
         1451. OPEN MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING REQUIRED.
         1452. VIOLATIONS.
         1453. PREEMPTION.
         1454. ENFORCEMENT OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 1450. DEFINITIONS.  FOR  THE PURPOSES OF THIS ARTICLE, THE FOLLOWING
 TERMS SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
   1. "MOTION PICTURE" MEANS A STORY OR EVENT RECORDED BY A CAMERA  AS  A
 SET OF MOVING IMAGES.
   2. "MOTION PICTURE THEATER" MEANS AN ENTITY IN THE BUSINESS OF PROVID-
 ING SHOWINGS OF MOTION PICTURES TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
   3.  "OPEN  MOTION  PICTURE  CAPTIONING"  MEANS  THE WRITTEN, ON-SCREEN
 DISPLAY OF A  MOTION  PICTURE'S  DIALOGUE  AND  NON-SPEECH  INFORMATION,
 INCLUDING  MUSIC,  THE  IDENTITY  OF  THE CHARACTER WHO IS SPEAKING, AND
 OTHER SOUNDS AND SOUND EFFECTS.
   4. "PEAK MOTION PICTURE ATTENDANCE HOURS" MEANS THE HOURS BETWEEN FIVE
 FIFTY-NINE IN THE EVENING AND ONE MINUTE  PAST  ELEVEN  O'CLOCK  IN  THE
 EVENING  ON FRIDAY AND THE HOURS BETWEEN ELEVEN TWENTY-NINE IN THE MORN-
 ING AND ONE MINUTE PAST ELEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE  EVENING  ON  SATURDAY  OR
 SUNDAY.
   § 1451. OPEN  MOTION  PICTURE CAPTIONING REQUIRED. 1. A MOTION PICTURE
 THEATER THAT OFFERS MORE THAN TEN MOTION PICTURE SHOWINGS PER WEEK SHALL
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14891-02-4
 S. 8961                             2
 
 PROVIDE SCHEDULED SHOWINGS OF MOTION PICTURES WITH OPEN  MOTION  PICTURE
 CAPTIONING  SUCH  THAT  AT LEAST ONE QUARTER OF ALL SHOWINGS OF A MOTION
 PICTURE WITH FOUR OR MORE SHOWINGS DURING A ONE-WEEK TIME  PERIOD  SHALL
 HAVE  OPEN MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING, EXCEPT THAT NO MORE THAN FOUR OPEN
 CAPTIONING SHOWINGS OF A SINGLE MOTION PICTURE SHALL BE  REQUIRED  IN  A
 ONE-WEEK TIME PERIOD.
   2.  A  MOTION  PICTURE  THAT  IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT OPEN
 MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS  OF  SUBDIVI-
 SION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   3. AT LEAST HALF OF THE SCHEDULED SHOWINGS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SUBDI-
 VISION  ONE  OF  THIS  SECTION  SHALL  BEGIN  AND END WITHIN PEAK MOTION
 PICTURE ATTENDANCE HOURS, UNLESS FEWER THAN ONE IN EIGHT SHOWINGS  OF  A
 MOTION  PICTURE IS SCREENED DURING PEAK MOTION PICTURE ATTENDANCE HOURS,
 IN WHICH CASE THIS REQUIREMENT IS MET IF ALL SCREENINGS OF  SUCH  MOTION
 PICTURE  DURING  PEAK  MOTION  PICTURE ATTENDANCE HOURS HAVE OPEN MOTION
 PICTURE CAPTIONING.
   4. AT LEAST HALF OF THE SCHEDULED SHOWINGS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO SUBDI-
 VISION ONE OF THIS SECTION THAT ARE SCHEDULED  OUTSIDE  OF  PEAK  MOTION
 PICTURE  ATTENDANCE HOURS SHALL START AFTER FIVE FIFTY-NINE IN THE EVEN-
 ING AND FINISH BEFORE ONE MINUTE PAST ELEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE  EVENING  ON
 MONDAYS,  TUESDAYS,  WEDNESDAYS  OR  THURSDAYS, UNLESS FEWER THAN ONE IN
 EIGHT SHOWINGS OF A MOTION PICTURE IS SCREENED AFTER FIVE FIFTY-NINE  IN
 THE EVENING ON MONDAYS, TUESDAYS, WEDNESDAYS OR THURSDAYS, IN WHICH CASE
 THIS  REQUIREMENT IS MET IF ALL SCREENINGS OF SUCH MOTION PICTURE DURING
 SUCH TIMES HAVE OPEN MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING.
   5. NO SHOWING OF A MOTION PICTURE WITH OPEN MOTION PICTURE  CAPTIONING
 THAT  OVERLAPS WITH ANOTHER SHOWING OF A MOTION PICTURE WITH OPEN MOTION
 PICTURE CAPTIONING SHALL BE COUNTED TOWARD THE MINIMUM NUMBER  OF  SHOW-
 INGS  REQUIRED  BY  THIS  SECTION  EXCEPT WHERE IT IS NOT PRACTICABLE TO
 AVOID SUCH OVERLAP.
   6. NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL PREVENT A MOTION PICTURE THEATER FROM
 SHOWING MORE MOTION PICTURES  WITH  OPEN  CAPTIONING  THAN  REQUIRED  BY
 SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION.
   7.  A  MOTION PICTURE THEATER SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION
 ONE OF THIS SECTION SHALL ADVERTISE THE DATE AND TIME OF MOTION  PICTURE
 SHOWINGS  REQUIRED  BY  SUBDIVISION ONE IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE MOTION
 PICTURE THEATER ADVERTISES ALL OTHER MOTION PICTURE SHOWINGS  AND  SHALL
 INDICATE WHICH SHOWINGS WILL INCLUDE OPEN MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING.
   8. EVERY MOTION PICTURE THEATER SHALL MAINTAIN DOCUMENTS SUFFICIENT TO
 DEMONSTRATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS ARTICLE FOR A PERI-
 OD OF AT LEAST THREE YEARS.
   § 1452. VIOLATIONS.  ANY  MOTION  PICTURE THEATER THAT VIOLATES ANY OF
 THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE SUBJECT TO A  CIVIL  PENALTY  OF
 NOT LESS THAN ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS NOR MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS FOR
 EACH VIOLATION.
   § 1453. PREEMPTION.  THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE ARE CUMULATIVE AND
 SUPPLEMENTAL AND SHALL NOT APPLY WITHIN ANY MUNICIPALITY THAT, BY  ORDI-
 NANCE OR RESOLUTION, HAS ADOPTED PROVISIONS REQUIRING SCHEDULED SHOWINGS
 OF MOTION PICTURES WITH OPEN MOTION PICTURE CAPTIONING THAT ARE EQUAL TO
 OR MORE STRINGENT THAN THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 1454. ENFORCEMENT  OF  THIS  ARTICLE.  IN THE EXERCISE OF ANY OF THE
 POWERS AND DUTIES CONFERRED BY LAW, A GOVERNING BODY OF  A  MUNICIPALITY
 OF THE STATE MAY ENFORCE THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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