The Writers Guild of America West and East have filed a lawsuit to stop Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, arguing that the deal would break US antitrust law and directly harm writers. The unions say the merger would reduce competition among major buyers of film and television writing, leading to lower pay, fewer jobs and less creative output. The case matters because it adds organised labour’s challenge to a major media merger already facing legal opposition from state authorities.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, one day after 12 Democratic state attorneys general also sued to block the deal on competition grounds. The WGA says the merger would affect three main markets for writing services: big-budget films, episodic television and streaming series, and overall deals. According to the union, the combined company would become the largest buyer of original film and TV programming in the United States, giving it greater power to cut costs, reduce the number and variety of productions, and weaken writers’ bargaining position.