 Rational composition law for the Nevanlinna characteristic

For a degree-$d$ rational function $U$ of the Riemann sphere, choose relatively prime homogeneous polynomials $(P,Q)$ of degree $d$. Their joint norm on the unit three-sphere has positive lower and finite upper bounds. Thus $\log \Vert (P,Q)(v)\Vert -d\log \Vert v\Vert$ is bounded. Averaging over a circle using a nonvanishing entire homogeneous lift of a meromorphic function proves the displayed law for the spherical characteristic. Jensen's formula and $0\le \frac{1}{2}\log (1+x^2)-{\log }^{+}x\le \frac{1}{2}\log 2$ show that it also holds for the ordinary Nevanlinna characteristic.