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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 115 / Thursday, June 17, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
48. The Commission emphasizes here that the reach of sections 507b and c of the Act is not limited only to those entities or individuals who have entered into lease agreements with the licensee.
Rather, these provisions impose a disclosure obligation on any person who, in connection with the production or preparation of any program or who supplies to any other person any program to convey any information such person may have about the provision of any inducement to broadcast the program in order to necessitate a sponsorship identification disclosure by the licensee. Specifically, such nonlicensees must disclose to their employer, the person for which such program is being produced e.g., the next individual involved in the chain of transmitting the programming to the licensee, or the licensee itself, their knowledge of any payment or valuable consideration provided or accepted by a foreign governmental entity. Section 507a of the Act imposes a similar disclosure obligation on the licensees own employees. Likewise, section 317b of the Act imposes a parallel requirement on licensees to make a required disclosure to the public at the time of broadcast if they learn of the need for a disclosure via the mechanism laid out in section 507 of the Act.
49. Reasonable Diligence Requirements to Apply on a Prospective Basis. Some commenters have asked that any new rules only apply on a going forward basis. Recognizing that some lease agreements may last for several years, the Commission declines to delay application of its rules to only new lease agreements. Rather, the Commission believes that the public interest is best served if audiences are notified of foreign sponsorship as soon as reasonably possible. Thus, in addition to applying the rules to new lease agreements and renewals of existing agreements, the Commission requires that lease agreements in place when the changes to the rules adopted herein become effective come into compliance with the new requirements, including undertaking reasonable diligence, within six months. In this manner, the transparency the Commission seeks to achieve can be accomplished in a way that does not unduly burden licensees.
50. Contents and Frequency of Required Disclosure of Foreign Sponsorship. Consistent with the NPRM, the Commission adopts standardized language to inform audiences at the time of broadcast that the program material has been provided by a foreign governmental entity. Such standardized language will avoid
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confusion and ensure that the information is conveyed clearly and concisely to the audience. Accordingly, as discussed below, the Commissions adopts the disclosure language proposed in the NPRM with two modifications, one to provide greater flexibility in the language used and the other to harmonize its labeling requirements with those imposed pursuant to FARA.
In addition, the Commission adopts a requirement that stations airing programming subject to the proposed disclosure requirement must place copies of the disclosures in their OPIFs, in a standalone folder marked as Foreign Government-Provided Programming Disclosures so that the material is readily identifiable to the public pursuant to the timing requirements discussed below.
51. Labeling Requirement. First, as requested by NAB, the Commission allows licensees the flexibility to use any of three terms sponsored, paid for, or furnished in an on-air foreign sponsorship disclosure statement, rather than mandate the use of paid for, or furnished as proposed, in order to conform the new requirement more closely to existing sponsorship identification requirements. The Commission notes that the language proposed by the National Association of Broadcasters NAB is consistent with existing sponsorship identification requirements. To the extent that the foreign sponsorship identification rules comport with existing rules and with how broadcast station personnel are accustomed to operating, the Commission finds that such allowances should facilitate compliance by licensees and minimize the burden on them. Hence, at the time a station broadcasts programming that was provided by a foreign governmental entity, the Commission requires a disclosure identifying that fact and the origin of the programming as follows:
The following/preceding programming was sponsored, paid for, or furnished, either in whole or in part, by name of foreign governmental entity on behalf of name of foreign country.

52. In establishing this disclosure language, the Commission recognizes that FARA also has a labelling requirement and clarify that the programming need not have two separate labelsboth the FARA label and the Commissions full disclosure.
Rather, for those entities that are subject to FARA, the Commission accepts for compliance purposes the contents of the FARA label as long as it is modified to include the country associated with the foreign governmental entity named in
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the label and comports with the format and frequency requirements described below. As discussed further below, the Commission notes that FARA requires only that FARA agents label materials, including broadcast programming, with a conspicuous statement identifying the FARA agent and its principal when distributed in the United States;
therefore, unless the licensee has registered under FARA, the licensee may not have the required FARA label.
Thus, for those entities not registered under FARA, the Commission requires the disclosure language the Commission adopts in this document. Moreover, the Commission finds that its disclosure statementor, alternatively, the passthrough of modified FARA labels provides audiences of broadcast stations greater insight about the source of foreign government-provided programming than may exist with existing FARA labeling practices. As described above, the language the Commission adopts in this document requires that the country associated with the foreign governmental entity be named in the disclosure, which will provide additional information when that entity is a foreign political party or an agent registered under FARA.
53. In the interest of ensuring transparency for the intended viewers and listeners of foreign governmentprovided programming, the Commission also requires that, if the primary language of the programming is other than English, the disclosure statement should be presented in the primary language of the programming. Although the NPRM sought comment on this issue, no commenters addressed this point. For programming that contains a conspicuous statement required by FARA, and such a conspicuous statement is in a language other than English, an additional disclosure in English is not needed.
54. With regard to the format of the disclosure, for televised programming, the Commission requires the disclosure to be in letters equal to or greater than four percent of the vertical picture height and be visible for not less than four seconds to ensure readability. The NPRM sought comment on this format, but no commenters addressed this point. As this format convention replicates the existing format rule for a televised political advertisement concerning a candidate for public office, the Commission anticipates minimal compliance burden on licensees. For radio broadcasts, the Commission incorporates into the rules the Department of Justice guidance provided to FARA registrants that the disclosure shall be audible. Once again,
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