S 2269: 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.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2269 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 16, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, WEBB -- read twice and ordered print- ed, 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: 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new article 2 44-B to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 44-B 4 OPEN CAPTIONING 5 Section 1450. Definitions. 6 1451. Open motion picture captioning required. 7 1452. Violations. 8 1453. Preemption. 9 1454. Enforcement of this article. 10 § 1450. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following 11 terms shall have the following meanings: 12 1. "Motion picture" means a story or event recorded by a camera as a 13 set of moving images. 14 2. "Motion picture theater" means an entity in the business of provid- 15 ing showings of motion pictures to the general public. 16 3. "Open motion picture captioning" means the written, on-screen 17 display of a motion picture's dialogue and non-speech information, 18 including music, the identity of the character who is speaking, and 19 other sounds and sound effects. 20 4. "Peak motion picture attendance hours" means the hours between five 21 fifty-nine in the evening and one minute past eleven o'clock in the 22 evening on Friday and the hours between eleven twenty-nine in the morn- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02942-01-5 
 S. 2269 2 1 ing and one minute past eleven o'clock in the evening on Saturday or 2 Sunday. 3 § 1451. Open motion picture captioning required. 1. A motion picture 4 theater that offers more than ten motion picture showings per week shall 5 provide scheduled showings of motion pictures with open motion picture 6 captioning such that at least one quarter of all showings of a motion 7 picture with four or more showings during a one-week time period shall 8 have open motion picture captioning, except that no more than four open 9 captioning showings of a single motion picture shall be required in a 10 one-week time period. 11 2. A motion picture that is produced and distributed without open 12 motion picture captioning is not subject to the provisions of subdivi- 13 sion one of this section. 14 3. At least half of the scheduled showings required pursuant to subdi- 15 vision one of this section shall begin and end within peak motion 16 picture attendance hours, unless fewer than one in eight showings of a 17 motion picture is screened during peak motion picture attendance hours, 18 in which case this requirement is met if all screenings of such motion 19 picture during peak motion picture attendance hours have open motion 20 picture captioning. 21 4. At least half of the scheduled showings required pursuant to subdi- 22 vision one of this section that are scheduled outside of peak motion 23 picture attendance hours shall start after five fifty-nine in the even- 24 ing and finish before one minute past eleven o'clock in the evening on 25 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, unless fewer than one in 26 eight showings of a motion picture is screened after five fifty-nine in 27 the evening on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, in which case 28 this requirement is met if all screenings of such motion picture during 29 such times have open motion picture captioning. 30 5. No showing of a motion picture with open motion picture captioning 31 that overlaps with another showing of a motion picture with open motion 32 picture captioning shall be counted toward the minimum number of show- 33 ings required by this section except where it is not practicable to 34 avoid such overlap. 35 6. Nothing in this article shall prevent a motion picture theater from 36 showing more motion pictures with open captioning than required by 37 subdivision one of this section. 38 7. A motion picture theater subject to the provisions of subdivision 39 one of this section shall advertise the date and time of motion picture 40 showings required by subdivision one in the same manner as the motion 41 picture theater advertises all other motion picture showings and shall 42 indicate which showings will include open motion picture captioning. 43 8. Every motion picture theater shall maintain documents sufficient to 44 demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this article for a peri- 45 od of at least three years. 46 § 1452. Violations. Any motion picture theater that violates any of 47 the provisions of this article shall be subject to a civil penalty of 48 not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars for 49 each violation. 50 § 1453. Preemption. The provisions of this article are cumulative and 51 supplemental and shall not apply within any municipality that, by ordi- 52 nance or resolution, has adopted provisions requiring scheduled showings 53 of motion pictures with open motion picture captioning that are equal to 54 or more stringent than the provisions of this article. 
 S. 2269 3 1 § 1454. Enforcement of this article. In the exercise of any of the 2 powers and duties conferred by law, a governing body of a municipality 3 of the state may enforce the provisions of this article. 4 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 5 it shall have become a law.