Everybody's Suing Paramount This Week

Various legal actions have been taken to prevent Paramount from completing its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. But the state attorney generals involved have been joined by other parties looking to block this merger, some with entirely different grievances. Earlier this week, 12 states—including California and New York—filed a suit alleging the completed merger would harm customers and the entertainment industry. Alongside that, the Writers Guild of America had its own suit against the merger, wherein it pledged to not “stand idly by as Paramount attempts to violate our country’s antitrust laws and deepen the contraction entertainment workers already feel.” Echoing the concerns of many, the WGA called Paramount’s purchase of WB “a threat to the film and television industry. A merger of the two firms will increase concentration and decrease competition in [television and film writing] markets, resulting in numerous harms, including a reduction in the quantity and variety of theatrical films and series … and downward pressure on writers’ compensation for film and television writing services. In addition, the merger will increase the likelihood that the remaining fi