Paramount Countersues Warner Bros. Discovery in ‘South Park’ Dispute Over Unpaid Licensing Fees
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are back in court thanks to the latest development in WBD’s lawsuit surrounding the rights to “South Park.” WBD has accused Paramount Global of breaking the terms of a 2019 licensing agreement which granted HBO Max exclusive streaming rights to the “South Park” TV series.
The crux of WBD’s argument is that Paramount helped produce several “South Park” streaming specials that ended up on Paramount+. In the view of Warner executives, this is a violation of the deal between the two sides. Paramount argues that because it labeled the content as specials, the company was still following the guidelines of the contract because they technically weren’t episodes.
Now, Paramount is hitting back. According to The Wrap, the company has filed a countersuit against WBD for refusing to pay licensing fees while the lawsuit works its way through the legal process. In its filing, Paramount says that Warner is “continuously exploiting and profiting from the 300-plus episodes of South Park that it still has available for streaming on HBO Max” and “refusing to pay tens of millions of dollars in license fees owed to South Park Studios for the right to exploit that content.”
In order to justify the nonpayment of those licensing fees, Paramount says WBD has cooked up this breech of contract lawsuit. For its part, WBD’s original filing accused Paramount of using “verbal trickery” and “grammatical sleight-of-hand,” referring to the new “South Park” content it helped to create as “movies,” “films,” or “events” instead of as “episodes.”
All of these suits and countersuits leave the judge in the case in an unenviable position. They could end up determining the future of “South Park” on streaming, and fans must anxiously await the decision in both lawsuits to see where the show will ultimately reside when all the dust settles.
Lawsuits like this might become more common in the near future, as licensing becomes more common. Streamers are all trying to cut losses and enhance revenue streams these days, and one of the quickest ways to infuse cash into a media company is by licensing the streaming rights to popular titles or franchises to other platforms. But big conglomerates like WBD and Paramount would do well to insist on more strict contract language going forward, or risk more cases like the “South Park” fiasco being brought in front of judges.
Paramount Plus
Paramount+ is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 40,000+ TV show episodes from BET, CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and more. The lineup includes “1883,” “Tulsa King,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and “PAW Patrol.” Subscribers can watch the NFL, college football, The Masters, college basketball, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa, Serie A, and NWSL. The service also offers the option to watch your live CBS affiliate. The upgraded ad-free package includes premium movies and shows from Showtime.