The fight over South Park content has gone to court
Warner Bros Discovery is suing Paramount Global over
South Park, claiming that its competitor aired new episodes of the animated comedy after it paid for, according to reports.
According to a lawsuit filed on Friday in New York State Supreme Court, Warner says it signed a contract in 2019 paying more than $500m for the rights to existing and new episodes of South Park.
HBO Max, Warner’s streaming platform, was scheduled to receive the first episodes of a new South Park season in 2020. But the company was informed covid halted production, the lawsuit says, according to the Associated Press, via
The Independent.
Warner claims that despite having exclusive rights to the show until 2025, South Park Digital Studios, which produces the shows, offered two pandemic-themed specials to Paramount. Those episodes were aired in September 2020 and March 2021.
Warner claims those eps should have been offered to it under the existing contract, and effectively drove the show's fans to the opposition platform.
Warner claims the deal was a deliberate “scheme” between Paramount, its subsidiary MTV Entertainment Studios and South Park Digital Studios to “divert as much of the new South Park content as possible to Paramount Plus in order to boost that nascent streaming platform", AP reported.
Warner is seeking more than $200m in damages. It is said to have paid $1,687,500 per episode and is yet to receive all of them covered by the deal.
Paramount Global has not commented on the case.
Related links:
