OHIO COURT REJECTS CITY CABLE FEES FOR STREAMING SERVICES

The streaming services Netflix and Hulu are not video service providers that would have to pay local governments in Ohio the same fees levied on cable operators, the state Supreme Court ruled in a case similar to lawsuits filed by hundreds of other municipalities nationally.

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At issue in Ohio is the state’s 2007 Video Service Authorization law, which directed the state Commerce Department to determine what entities must obtain permission to physically install cables and wires in a public right-of-way. Companies that are deemed video service providers must pay a fee to local governments under that law.

Officials with Maple Heights in suburban Cleveland contended that streaming services are subject to the fee because their content is delivered via the internet over cables and wires.

The Supreme Court said in its ruling that Netflix and Hulu aren’t video service providers under the law because they provide streaming services over public internet.