AUSTIN – Five more Texas cities have joined the growing list of municipalities seeking to sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney and other streamers over franchise fees.
Records show the cities of Houston, Austin, Irving, Rowlett and Beaumont sent contingent fee agreements to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for approval last month.
The Texas cities seek approval from the OAG to press forward with their franchise fee suits against the streaming video service providers (VSPs).
Like cable providers, the cities are arguing that streaming VSPs are also required to pay five percent of their gross revenues under the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act.
The other Texas cities seeking to sue Netflix and the other streamers include Arlington, Grand Prairie, Allen, Amarillo, Sugar Land, Mesquite, Dallas, Plano, Waco, Abilene, Carrollton, Frisco and Garland.
All of the cities to submit approval requests are represented by the same three law firms - Ashcroft Sutton Reyes, McKool Smith, and Korein Tillery.