A federal judge extended the temporary restraining order to further delay the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger on Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín wrote in her order on Thursday that the court found “good cause to extend the TRO on multiple grounds, including the need to resolve two preliminary injunction motions, the parties’ disputes regarding the schedule and the proposed format of the preliminary injunction hearing, and Defendants’ stated willingness to abide by the terms of the TRO for some weeks into the future.”
Martínez-Olguín said that the court should listen to the preliminary injunctions filed by state attorneys general and the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), per TheWrap.
As a result, Paramount’s opposition brief to both the state AGs and the WGA will be due by July 27, with replies due July 30. A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Aug. 3 at 3 p.m. PT.
She also ordered lead trial counsel of all three parties to meet and reach a consensus on the briefing and hearing schedule by noon PT on Friday.
She emphasized that the TRO cannot be extended any further, but that if parties can “reach agreement and stipulate to maintain the TRO, the Defendant companies held apart, they may agree to an extended briefing and hearing schedule.”
Earlier this month, as many as 12 state attorneys general filed a legal challenge to the merger, alleging it violates antitrust laws. Paramount called it “one of the weakest merger challenges in modern antitrust history,” adding that it “distorts settled antitrust law and is based on a misrepresentation of competition in the entertainment industry today.”
According to Variety, Paramount could potentially reach a settlement with the states or possibly negotiate terms. Speaking with CNN last week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the negotiations”would have to include structural remedies.”
“We’re not interested in behavioral remedies — empty promises, self-serving promises, promises that are unenforceable, that won’t be kept, that history shows won’t be kept. So we’ll consider what they propose, but they haven’t proposed anything,” Bonta said.
At the very least, the deal took a closer step to becoming reality this week when the European Commission approved the $111 billion deal on the condition that Paramount cancels its film distribution partnership with Universal in Europe over the next 13 months. Ultimately, the European Commission found that the deal would not harm TV or film production in Europe, leaving enough global and local competitors.
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