Jul 20, 2023

The South Park Streaming lawsuit continues as Warner Bros. Discovery dismisses a partial move by Paramount-S.

The ongoing legal battle between Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global over the rights to South Park Streaming was heated again last weekend when Wbd asked the court to throw out a partial motion to dismiss filed by Paramount on May 4.

How this Legal Dispute began - On May 2 of this year, Wbd sued Paramount, arguing that the company had conspired with South Park Digital Studios (SPDS) and MTV Entertainment Studios to circumvent the existing contract for South Park's exclusive streaming rights between Wbd and SPDS. According to WBD, the company was using "grammatical sleight of hand," referring to new content as "movies," "movies," or "events," and instead sending new programming to Paramount+ to circumvent SPDS's contractual obligations to HBO Max. South Park co-creator Trey Parker said in an interview in 2021 that the SPDS crew was essentially producing episode content for South Park, but could not call it an episode, so he acknowledged Paramount's questionable tactics: "[Paramount] then let them go." I called it a movie," he said, adding, "It's them who said they're offering 7 films in 14 years. All I can say is for me, personally, I am 52 years old, I have made 3 films in my life. So you do the math."

What was the response to that lawsuit - on May 4, Paramount filed a counterclaim claiming HBO Max had got everything it owed under its original contract but withheld the必要26 million required payment. Paramount also demanded a partial dismissal of the original lawsuit.

What happened last week - In a new filing made by WBD on 7/13 (download PDF here), the company threw Paramount's partial dismissal request to the court, WBD's lawyers said, "Presenting the disputed issue of the fact that the defendant's claims need to be determined by the jury and the grounds for dismissal of the Plaintiff's well-promised claims in the first plea phase." It states that there is enough evidence to hear the case, and that Paramount's own counter-measures actually prove the point.

What does the WBD Want Now - a document drafted by WBD's lawyers has asked New York judge Margaret Chan to deny Paramount's dismissal move and schedule an oral defense hearing so that both parties can speak with the judge.