47 U.S.C. § 558: Criminal and civil liability

47 U.S.C. 558: Criminal and civil liabilityText contains those laws in effect through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).

From Title 47-TELECOMMUNICATIONSCHAPTER 5-WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION

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§558. Criminal and civil liability

Nothing in this subchapter shall be deemed to affect the criminal or civil liability of cable programmers or cable operators pursuant to the Federal, State, or local law of libel, slander, obscenity, incitement, invasions of privacy, false or misleading advertising, or other similar laws, except that cable operators shall not incur any such liability for any program carried on any channel designated for public, educational, governmental use or on any other channel obtained under section 532 of this title or under similar arrangements unless the program involves obscene material.

( June 19, 1934, ch. 652 , title VI, § 638, as added Pub. L. 98–549, § 2 , Oct. 30, 1984 , 98 Stat. 2801 ; amended Pub. L. 102–385, § 10(d) , Oct. 5, 1992 , 106 Stat. 1486 .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1992⁠—Pub. L. 102–385 inserted before period at end “unless the program involves obscene material”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–385 effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, see section 28 of Pub. L. 102–385, set out as a note under section 325 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98–549, set out as a note under section 521 of this title.