The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East filed a lawsuit seeking to block Paramount Skydance‘s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, alleging it violates federal antitrust law and would cause specific harm to writers.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It comes a day after 12 Democratic state attorneys general also filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger, alleging Paramount-WBD would have anticompetitive power in theatrical and basic cable TV markets.
“With fewer competitors, the merged Paramount-Warner Bros. entity would have both the incentive and the ability to lower costs by suppressing writers’ wages and reducing output. Writers will be paid less and have fewer employment opportunities,” the WGA complaint states. The WGA complaint is available at this link.
Reps for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The WGA’s lawsuit focuses on the alleged anticompetitive effects of the Paramount-WBD merger in three markets for writing services: anticipated top grossing films, episodic television and streaming series, and overall deals.
The complaint alleges the merger would “reduce opportunities, lower pay and worsen working conditions for writers,” according to the WGA. “The elimination of a key competitor and the creation of a new dominant firm would result in reduction in the quantity and variety of theatrical films and television series as the merged company would have a greater ability to reduce output. Furthermore, the complaint asserts that the merger would increase the ability for the few remaining companies to tacitly coordinate to further suppress competition for writers’ work.”
WGA West president Michele Mulroney said in a statement: “If Paramount succeeds in buying Warner Bros., the merged firm will be the largest buyer of original film and television programming in the United States. This would eliminate competition in an already consolidated industry, threatening the livelihoods of entertainment workers and the creative diversity of TV and film. We applaud the dozen state attorneys general who have stepped up to enforce our antitrust laws and are proud to file suit alongside them.”
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Since Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery was announced, the WGA said, the union has raised awareness about this threat to state attorneys general offices and federal legislators, submitted comments to regulatory agencies and Congress, and participated in press events as part of a coalition of democracy and arts organizations.
“The Writers Guild of America will not stand idly by as Paramount attempts to violate our country’s antitrust laws and deepen the contraction entertainment workers already feel,” said WGA East president Tom Fontana. “This proposed combined entity would be the largest employer of writers, with tremendous power to suppress our wages, eliminate opportunities for emerging writers, cut jobs across the industry, and produce less programming, effecting the range of storytelling. This merger is not inevitable and we are fighting to stop it.”
WGA is represented in the lawsuit by Shinder Cantor Lerner, Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, and Platkin LLP.
From Variety US