{"id":4217,"date":"2026-07-15T05:35:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4217"},"modified":"2026-07-15T05:35:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:35:31","slug":"paramount-skydance-agrees-to-link-merger-antitrust-case-to-pre-existing-paramount-subscriber-suit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4217","title":{"rendered":"Paramount Skydance Agrees to Link Merger Antitrust Case to Pre-Existing Paramount+ Subscriber Suit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nParamount has agreed to a request from 12 states to link their federal antitrust case to a pre-existing suit brought by Paramount+ subscribers.<\/p>\n

Read more Whether in \u2018Jurassic Park\u2019 or \u2018The Piano,\u2019 Sam Neill Put the Movies First<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe move means that the states\u2019 challenge to the $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery will likely end up before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin, a Biden appointee who is already handling the earlier lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\n\tMartinez-Olguin, whose courtroom is in Oakland, worked for the National Immigration Law Center and the ACLU Immigrants\u2019 Rights Project before being nominated to the bench in 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tCalifornia Attorney General Rob Bonta led the state coalition in filing the suit on Monday in the Northern District of California. The states are also asking for a temporary restraining order and an injunction that would prevent the merger from closing. No hearing has yet been scheduled on that motion.<\/p>\n

\n\tOn Monday, Bonta\u2019s office filed a motion to relate the case to a lawsuit filed in April by Paramount+ subscribers who alleged that the merger would harm competition and drive up prices. The state argued that it would be more efficient to have one judge consider both suits.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe like that judge,\u201d Bonta told The Town podcast on Monday. \u201cThe fact that the judge is already up to speed, is thinking about this, thinking about its impacts \u2014 we like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount filed a Tuesday joining in the states\u2019 request. A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Read more Anya Taylor-Joy Is a Con Artist on the Run in Apple TV\u2019s High-Voltage Thriller \u2018Lucky\u2019: TV Review<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tMartinez-Olguin is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday on the subscribers\u2019 motion for a preliminary injunction and on Paramount\u2019s motion to dismiss the subscribers\u2019 suit.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier Tuesday, the states\u2019 case was randomly assigned to Judge P. Casey Pitts, another Biden appointee who, while a private attorney, represented the Writers Guild of America in its fight over agency packaging fees in 2019. The WGA is among the suit\u2019s strongest supporters. Pitts, whose courtroom is in San Jose, likely will not have the case for long. <\/p>\n

\n\tPitts is already overseeing another high-profile antitrust action that has several parallels with the Paramount-Warner Bros. suit. In that case, 12 states and the District of Columbia are seeking to block the $14 billion merger of Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Juniper Networks, which the Trump Department of Justice approved last year.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn January, Pitts the states\u2019 motion to halt the merger pending the outcome of the challenge, finding that the two companies had already spent several months integrating their operations. A final ruling on that case is still pending.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the WGA lawsuit, Pitts was part of the Altshuler Berzon legal team that accused WME of collecting from studios for packaging clients into projects. In that case, he squared off against Jeffrey Kessler, the high-powered litigator who is now leading Paramount\u2019s defense of the Warner Bros. merger.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe WGA won a war of attrition in that case, with WME and other agencies ultimately agreeing to swear off packaging fees and to divest themselves of their content production entities.<\/p>\n

Read more Mayu Matsuoka, Riisa Naka\u2019s Netflix Cosmetic Surgery Drama \u2018Plastic Beauty\u2019 Sets September Premiere, Adds 23 Cast Members<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paramount has agreed to tie the antitrust suit to an earlier case, meaning the state case will end up before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3341,1517,3342],"class_list":["post-4217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-paramount-warner-bros-2","tag-paramount-3","tag-rob-bonta"],"yoast_head":"\nParamount Skydance Agrees to Link Merger Antitrust Case to Pre-Existing Paramount+ Subscriber Suit - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4217\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Paramount Skydance Agrees to Link Merger Antitrust Case to Pre-Existing Paramount+ Subscriber Suit - 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