New York
Mahaz News
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Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit towards Paramount Friday, claiming the rival media firm breached its half-billion-dollar exclusivity contract with HBO Max by airing “South Park” by itself streaming platform, Paramount+.
HBO Max is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, which additionally owns Mahaz News.
Nearly all “South Park” episodes air first on Paramount-owned Comedy Central. In 2019, Paramount and “South Park’s” creators collectively auctioned off streaming rights to the present’s first 23 seasons plus three new 10-episode seasons to HBO Max.
Prior to Discovery’s 2022 merger with Warner Bros., WarnerMedia, then owned by AT&T, agreed to pay practically $1.7 million for unique streaming rights for every “South Park” episode, the go well with alleges. The first episodes of “South Park” season 24 have been to be delivered in March 2020. Then got here the pandemic, and WarnerMedia was advised that the brand new manufacturing of “South Park” can be halted, based on the criticism.
In March 2021, Paramount launched Paramount+, and Warner Bros. Discovery claims Paramount, MTV and South Park Digital Studios collectively “planned to divert as much of the new “South Park” content material as doable to Paramount+ to be able to increase that nascent streaming platform.”
The firm additionally mentioned it was promised 30 new episodes over three seasons, however has solely acquired 14 episodes thus far.
“We believe that Paramount and South Park Digital Studios embarked on a multi-year scheme of unfair trade practices and deception, flagrantly and repeatedly breaching our contract, which clearly gave HBO Max exclusive streaming rights to the existing library and new content from the popular animated comedy South Park,” HBO Max mentioned in an announcement.
Paramount says these claims are “without merit.”
Paramount “continues to adhere to the parties’ contract by delivering new South Park episodes to HBO Max, despite the fact that Warner Bros. Discovery has failed and refused to pay license fees that it owes to Paramount for episodes that have already been delivered, and which HBO Max continues to stream,” a Paramount Global spokesperson mentioned.
The lawsuit, filed within the New York State Supreme Court, additionally claims a separate $900 million deal between MTV, a subsidiary of Paramount, and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, broke the phrases of the contract in August 2021. This deal included 14 “made-for-streaming” “South Park” motion pictures that will premiere on Paramount+.
Warner Bros. Discovery claims the defendants used language like “movies,” “films,” and “events” to sidestep their contractual obligations.
“As Stone publicly described it, “we have f—k you money now,” the go well with claims he mentioned, relating to the take care of MTV.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
