Art Harding is a partner representing clients principally in the cable television, broadcasting and telecommunications sectors. He has advised clients for over thirty-five years on a broad range of issues before the Federal Communications Commission, Copyright Office and other aspects of communications law, with a particular concentration on matters affecting the cable television industry, including: must carry/retransmission consent, rate regulation, effective competition showings, program access and program carriage disputes, network affiliation agreements, local franchises and right-of-way agreements, subscriber privacy and copyright.
Art actively participates in a broad range of proceedings before the FCC, such as rulemakings, waiver petitions, enforcement matters, administrative hearings and transaction approvals.
He also assists cable clients as they enter new lines of business such as high-speed Internet, video on demand and voice over Internet protocol. In addition, Art provides strategic counsel to the firm's broadcast, telecommunications and communications equipment clients on a broad range of regulatory and business matters.
Notable Experience
· Art has led teams in obtaining FCC and related state and local regulatory approvals for numerous significant transactions, including:
- Time Warner Cable spin-off from Time Warner Inc.
- Time Warner Cable/Comcast/Adelphia
- Time Warner Inc./AOL
- Time Warner Entertainment/US West
- Time Warner Inc./Turner Broadcasting
- Time Warner Inc./Warner Communications
- Sale of Group W Cable
- Westinghouse (Group W)/Teleprompter
- Warner Cable/American Express
· Art has also successfully assisted clients with FCC strategies to repel hostile takeovers, such as Paramount's effort to take over Time Inc. and Rupert Murdoch's attempt to seize control of Warner Communications.
· Art helped implement the FCC strategy for William Paley to return as Chairman of CBS.
· Art has obtained dozens of cable franchises and franchise renewals for cable clients.
· Art has participated in numerous administrative hearings before the FCC, including proceedings involving the FCC program carriage rules and the award television and radio licenses.
· Art was on the team representing NCTA in negotiations with local authorities that led to the 1984 Cable Act.
· Art also actively participated in the legislative process relating to the 1992 Cable Act and the 1996 Telecommunications Act, as well as in various FCC rulemaking proceedings to implement those laws.
Recent Speaking Engagements and Publications
· Guest Speaker, Time Warner Cable Law Department, September, 2010.
· "Dismantling the Final Regulatory Entry Barriers: A Call for the FCC to Assert Its Preemptive Authority," Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, 1999.
News & Publications
May 8, 2012, Client Advisory - Senate Fills FCC Vacancies After Lengthy Delay
April 2, 2012, Client Advisory - House Passes FCC "Reform" Legislation (HR 3309)
March 30, 2012, Client Advisory - FCC Announces Effective Date of Closed Captioning Rules for IP-Delivered Programming
March 29, 2012, Client Advisory - Copyright Office Proposes Filing Fees for Statements
March 22, 2012, Client Advisory - FCC Seeks Comment on Whether to Retain, Sunset, or Relax the Prohibition on Exclusive Contracts and on Certain Other Aspects of the Program Access Rules (Including Volume Discounts and Uniform Price Increases)
February 2012, Client Advisory - New FCC Telemarketing Rules
February 2012, Client Advisory - Annual Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) Certifications for 2012 Filing Deadline is March 1, 2012
February 15, 2012, Client Advisory - FCC Proposes Three Year Extension of the Cable Dual Carriage Rule and Small Cable Operator HD Exemption
February 2, 2012, Client Advisory - Copyright Owners Petition Copyright Office to Adopt Statement of Account Audit and Filing Fee Rules
January 31, 2012, Client Advisory - FCC Adopts Closed Captioning Rules for IP-Delivered Programming
November 1, 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Scraps Form 355 and Proposes New Online Public File Requirements for Television Broadcast Stations
October 28, 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Adopts Much Anticipated Universal Service and Intercarrier Compensation Reform Rules
October 13, 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Establishes New Rules for Enabling Access to Advanced Communications Services by Persons with Disabilities
October 11, 2011, Client Advisory - Controversial Net Neutrality Rules Set to Go Into Effect on November 20
September 23, 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Proposes Closed Captioning Rules for IP-Delivered Programming
July 2011, Client Advisory - FCC To Step Up Enforcement of Children's Television Rules
July 2011, Client Advisory - Certain CableCARD Reforms To Go Into Effect August 8, 2011
July 2011, Client Advisory - Third Circuit Overturns FCC's Revised Newspaper/Broadcast Cross Ownership Rule
July 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Report on Media Recommends Significant Regulatory Reform
July 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Issues Guidance Regarding "Transparency" Network Neutrality Requirements
June 2011, Client Advisory - DC Circuit Upholds FCC Authority to Entertain Program Access Complaints Regarding Terrestrially Delivered Programming
June 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Proposes Rules to Implement the CALM Act
May 2011, Client Advisory - FCC's New Ex Parte Rules Go Into Effect June 1, 2011
May 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Establishes Pleading Cycle for AT&T/T-Mobile Merger
March 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Extends Comment Deadlines in Video Description Proceeding
March 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Seeks Comment on Implementation of the Video Accessibility Act
March 2011, Client Advisory - CALM Act
March 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Seeks Comment on Revision of its Retransmission Consent Rules
March 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Grants Time Warner Cable's Declaratory Ruling Request Regarding the Negative Option Billing Restriction
March 2011, Client Advisory - Supreme Court Rules That Corporations Do Not Have Personal Privacy Rights Under FOIA
March 2011, Client Advisory - Copyright Office Seeks Comment on Phase-Out of Compulsory License
February 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Modifies Rules Regarding Petitions for Reconsideration and Electronic Filings
February 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Restricts Discounted Bundles of Cable Services and Equipment
February 2011, Client Advisory - FCC Modifies Ex Parte Rules
February 1, 2011, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Merges with Fleischman and Harding
Combination forges communications industry powerhouse with major DC presence
Before Edwards Wildman
After law school, Art started as an attorney in the Cable Television Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. He later served as Assistant General Counsel of the National Cable Television Association before joining a Washington, D.C. communications law firm that became Fleishman and Harding where he practiced for over thirty years.
Besides Edwards Wildman
Art and his wife enjoy weekends at their cabin on the Chesapeake Bay. Art's hobbies include antiques, ocean liner memorabilia and posters, and following unlimited hydroplane racing. Art takes out his frustrations on the golf course whenever possible.
Industries
· Cable
· Broadcasting
· Telecommunications
· Wireless & Satellite
· Cloud Computing & Managed IT Services
Memberships
· Federal Communications Bar Association