See Amendments, 1952 Sub sec. (a)

US Code as of: 01/05/99

USC Title 47

Sec. 308. Requirements for license

(a) Writing; exceptions
     The Commission may grant construction permits and station
     licenses, or modifications or renewals thereof, only upon
     written application therefore received by it: Provided, That (1)
     in cases of emergency found by the Commission involving
     danger to life or property or due to damage to equipment, or
     (2) during a national emergency proclaimed by the President
     or declared by the Congress and during the continuance of any
     war in which the United States is engaged and when such
     action is necessary for the national defense or security or
     otherwise in furtherance of the war effort, or (3) in cases of
     emergency where the Commission finds, in the nonbroadcast
     services, that it would not be feasible to secure renewal
     applications from existing licensees or otherwise to follow
     normal licensing procedure, the Commission may grant
     construction permits and station licenses, or modifications or
     renewals thereof, during the emergency so found by the
     Commission or during the continuance of any such national
     emergency or war, in such manner and upon such terms and
     conditions as the Commission shall by regulation prescribe,
     and without the filing of a formal application, but no
     authorization so granted shall continue in effect beyond the
     period of the emergency or war requiring it: Provided further,
     That the Commission may issue by cable, telegraph, or radio a
     permit for the operation of a station on a vessel of the United
     States at sea, effective in lieu of a license until said vessel shall
     return to a port of the continental United States.

(b) Conditions
     All applications for station licenses, or modifications or
     renewals thereof, shall set forth such facts as the Commission
     by regulation may prescribe as to the citizenship, character,
     and financial, technical, and other qualifications of the applicant
     to operate the station; the ownership and location of the
     proposed station and of the stations, if any, with which it is
     proposed to communicate; the frequencies and the power
     desired to be used; the hours of the day or other periods of
     time during which it is proposed to operate the station; the
     purposes for which the station is to be used; and such other
     information as it may require. The Commission, at any time
     after the filing of such original application and during the term
     of any such license, may require from an applicant or licensee
     further written statements of fact to enable it to determine
     whether such original application should be granted or denied
     or such license revoked. Such application and/or such
     statement of fact shall be signed by the applicant and/or
     licensee in any manner or form, including by electronic means,
     as the Commission may prescribe by regulation.

(c) Commercial communication
     The Commission in granting any license for a station intended
     or used for commercial communication between the United
     States or any Territory or possession, continental or insular,
     subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and any foreign
     country, may impose any terms, conditions, or restrictions
     authorized to be imposed with respect to submarine-cable
     licenses by section 35 of this title.  

     (d) Summary of complaints
     Each applicant for the renewal of a commercial or
     noncommercial television license shall attach as an exhibit to
     the application a summary of written comments and
     suggestions received from the public and maintained by the
     licensee (in accordance with Commission regulations) that
     comment on the applicant's programming, if any, and that are
     characterized by the commentor as constituting violent
     programming.

Notes on Title 47, Section 308 

SOURCE

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, Sec. 308, 48 Stat. 1084; July 16,
1952, ch. 879, Sec. 6, 66 Stat. 714; Pub. L. 87-444, Sec. 3, Apr.
27, 1962, 76 Stat. 63; Pub. L. 102-538, title II, Sec. 204(b), Oct.
27, 1992, 106 Stat. 3543; Pub. L. 103-414, title III, Sec.
303(a)(15), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4295; Pub. L. 104-104, title
II, Sec. 204(b), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 113.) -MISC1-

AMENDMENTS                       

1996 - Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-104 added subsec. (d). 1994 -
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103-414 made technical amendment to
reference to section 35 of this title to correct reference to
corresponding section of original act. 1992 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L.
102-538 inserted before period at end ''in any manner or form,
including by electronic means, as the Commission may prescribe by
regulation''. 1962 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87-444 struck out
requirement that applications or statements of fact were to be signed
under oath or affirmation. 1952 - Subsec. (a). Act July 16, 1952,
Sec. 6(a), provided that the Commission may grant construction
permits and station licenses, or modifications or renewals, only upon
written application except that during war or emergency periods no
formal application need be filed. Subsec. (b). Act July 16, 1952,
Sec. 6(b), substituted ''All applications for station licenses or
modifications or renewals thereof, shall set forth'' for ''All such
applications shall set forth''.  

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT Section 204(c) of
Pub. L. 104-104 provided that: ''The amendments made by this
section (amending this section and section 309 of this title) apply to
applications filed after May 1, 1995.''

 SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 309, 310, 312 of this title.