Video streamers agree with Maple Heights, Ohio, to dismiss their federal court dispute due to last month’s Ohio Supreme Court decision on whether Netflix and Hulu must pay the city video franchise fees, parties said Thursday at U.S. District Court of Eastern Ohio (case 1:20-CV-01872). The state Supreme Court said Maple Heights can’t sue since the streamers don’t qualify as video service providers under Ohio's Fair Competition in Cable Operations Act (see 2211300008).
Litigation brought by Dallas and other Texas communities against Netflix, Disney and Hulu seeking video service provider franchise fees should be remanded to state court, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Horan said in a recommendation Wednesday (docket 3:22-cv-2071-L) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The suit was filed in August in the 14th Judicial District of Dallas County and removed by the defendants to federal court the following month. Horan sided with the plaintiff communities (see 2211040040) and rejected arguments by the streamers against remand, citing the Supreme Court's Levin v. Commerce Energy decision and its comity doctrine saying federal courts should be restrained from claims for relief that could disrupt state tax administration.
Dallas and other Texas cities urged a federal court to remand to state court their lawsuit against Disney, Hulu and Netflix. The cities claim the streamers ignored their video service provider obligations to get their state certificates of franchise authority and pay required franchise fees. The companies and local governments disagree whether streaming TV is subject to the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA), said the cities' reply Thursday at U.S. District Court for Northern Texas (case 3:22-cv-02071-L). “That core dispute will necessarily involve determining the scope of PURA and the Texas Legislature’s intent in passing it,” and “this case ultimately will require a ruling that affects the fiscal operations of Texas and Texas municipalities.” Five other federal courts weighing similar issues “have held these cases should be remanded to state courts based on the Supreme Court’s comity doctrine,” the cities said.