On Thursday, April 18, the New Jersey Law Review Commission (LRC) will meet to consider a proposed project regarding whether the Cable Television Act (CTA) would benefit from modification to clarify whether the Legislature intended to provide a private right of action for municipalities to enforce fee provisions with the Act.
This comes after a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Borough of Longport v. Netflix, Inc., which examined whether the CTA implies a right of action for municipalities to enforce the fee provision where the Legislature has not conferred an express right of action. The court relied on factors established by the U.S. Supreme Court in in Cort v. Ash to determine whether an implied right of action exists and determined that municipalities have no private right of action.
The April 18 meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be conducted remotely. Any member of the public that wishes to submit comments or would like to participate in the meeting virtually should contact Laura C. Tharney in advance of the start time of the meeting at lct@njlrc.org.
While the Law Review Commission does not have legislative or rulemaking authority its reports are instructive and have produced legislative action in areas where clarity or uniformity is needed. The League plans to provide comments supporting the LRC’s action and requesting the scope of the project be expanded to review the possible need to clarify the inclusion of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+, under the CTA.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x137.