Advocacy

WGA Lawsuit to Block Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger

The WGA has opposed the merger since day one. Read about the latest action to block the merger and our advocacy to date.
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On July 14, 2026, the WGAW and the WGAE jointly filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to block the proposed merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery on the grounds that it violates antitrust law and will cause specific harm to writers. Yesterday, a coalition of 12 State Attorneys General also filed suit to block the merger. 

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Combining Warner Bros. Discovery with Paramount Skydance is a threat to the film and television industry. The merger would create the largest buyer of film and TV programming as well as the largest employer of writers. The elimination of a key competitor will harm writers and eliminate jobs across the industry. Antitrust laws were designed to stop mergers that may substantially lessen competition before they happen. 

Courts have recognized the harm that mergers can cause to creative workers. In 2022, a federal court blocked the proposed merger between two of the “Big Five” U.S. book publishers, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster, on the grounds that the combined entity would have dominated the market for the anticipated bestselling books, depressing author advances and reducing the number of titles released. Similarly, the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger would reduce competition between buyers of film and television writing services, giving the combined entity increased incentive and ability to suppress writers’ compensation, erode deal terms, create new barriers to building sustainable careers and diminish the volume and diversity of programming reaching audiences.

The WGA has a long history of opposing harmful consolidation in the entertainment industry, both by advocating against specific mergers and by pushing for improvements in antitrust law and enforcement. The WGA has engaged with Attorney General offices and lobbied legislators, co-hosted Main Street and the Merger townhalls, hosted a press conference around a shareholder vote on the merger, and submitted comments before regulators and Congress. Read more of WGAW’s recent policy filings on this and other topics.

The WGA complaint alleges the proposed merger violates antitrust law because it will substantially lessen competition and cause harm to writers in several particular markets:

  • Screenwriters of anticipated top-grossing theatrical films, with budgets of $100 million or more; 
  • Writers staffed on episodic TV and streaming series, and; 
  • Television writers employed under overall deals.

Each of these markets is already concentrated and, in each, Paramount and Warner Bros. compete significantly for writers’ services. A merger of the two firms will increase concentration and decrease competition in each market, resulting in numerous harms including a reduction in the quantity and variety of theatrical films and series, fewer opportunities for writers to sell their work, a reduction in the number of overall deals, and downward pressure on writers’ compensation for film and television writing services. In addition, the merger will increase the likelihood that the remaining firms will be able to tacitly coordinate with each other to further suppress competition in the markets where they operate.

The lawsuit focuses on these key markets where the firms already hold significant share and compete with one another; there may be other markets beyond these that our complaint does not speak to, including some which are addressed in the State Attorneys General complaint, such as harms to movie theater operators. 

The WGA is represented in this lawsuit by Shinder Cantor Lerner LLP, Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, and Platkin LLP, and others. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

WGAE is funding the litigation and both Guilds are dedicating staff resources.

Guild Action on the Merger

Check out some of the WGA’s recent antitrust advocacy related to this merger:

Contact Us

Shelagh Wagener
WGAW Political and Legislative Director
Jason Gordon
WGAE Director of Communications & Policy