Summary: California AG Rob Bonta leads investigation into merger Paramount's $110 billion acquisition faces multi-state lawsuit threat Paramount CEO David Ellison agrees to $650 million quarterly fee if deal delays U.S. states concerned that Paramount's $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery will hurt competition could sue to block the deal as soon as next week, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has taken the lead in investigating whether the deal violates U.S. laws against mergers that would unlawfully harm competition. The deal, which would combine two of Hollywood's four ⁠major studios, has drawn criticism from actors, writers and others in Hollywood who fear job losses. Theater owners also oppose the combination of the Warner Bros movie studio, maker of the "Harry Potter" and "Superman" films, with Paramount Pictures, and have expressed concern the merger would result in fewer movies, narrowing consumer choice and eroding competition. Paramount has said that combining forces with Warner Bros would allow the media company to tackle mounting competition for audiences, talent and investment. Paramount CEO David Ellison has sought to assuage the concerns of theater owners, saying the combined film studios would release 30 movies a year. If the deal is delayed because of a court challenge, costs could mount for Paramount, which is already expected to carry around $80 billion in debt after the transaction closes. Ellison has agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a 25-cent-per-share "ticking fee," amounting to about $650 million in cash each quarter, if the deal does not close before October. In early June Reuters reported California, New York and other U.S. states were preparing a lawsuit as state officials look to step up their scrutiny of big mergers and acquisitions as federal antitrust authorities have loosened their reins. Analysts have said Paramount's political connections and other factors gave it an easier road to regulatory clearance from federal antitrust watchdogs in the U.S. The Paramount CEO's father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, has cultivated ties with President Donald Trump. Not all lawsuits seeking to block mergers succeed. But they can delay the consummation of deals by months if a judge issues an order pausing the merger while the case plays out. Given that multiple states are coordinating, it is possible the timeline for filing the lawsuit could change. A court could order Paramount and Warner to hold their assets separate, delaying the $6 billion in cost cuts that Paramount has said it would make after the deal closes.

Summary: Lawsuit filed by Iranian American Legal Defense Fund Allegations of ICE sharing asylum data with Iranian government Suit seeks independent monitor to prevent further disclosures   A lawsuit filed on July 7 alleged that President Donald Trump's administration illegally shared confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with Iran's government, allegations the Trump administration denied. Lawyers with the left-leaning Public Citizen Litigation Group were representing the Iranian American Legal Defense Fund in the suit. The lawsuit alleged that the Trump administration adopted a policy last year of providing Iran "with confidential information from the immigration files of Iranians seeking asylum in the United States." "Many of the asylum seekers are pro-democracy protestors, members of religious minorities such as Evangelical Christians, or members of the LGBTQ community who seek refuge in the United States because of the grave dangers they face in Iran," it added. The policy continued despite last year's U.S. strikes against Iran during the Israel-Iran war, Iran's crackdown on protesters and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran that was launched on Feb. 28, the lawsuit alleged. "These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE," the Department of Homeland Security, of which the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is a part, said in a statement. "ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives." ICE has been the face of Trump's immigration crackdown and deportation drive, which has been widely condemned by human rights groups as being in violation of free speech and due process rights. Rights groups also say the crackdown has created an unsafe environment in the U.S., particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling. Trump casts his policies as aiming to reduce illegal immigration and improve domestic security. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It alleged that Iranian detainees who met with an "Iranian Interest Section official" had said the official had knowledge of their immigration cases, including the details of their asylum applications. Since there is no Iranian consulate within the United States, consular functions for Iran "were handled by the Iranian Interest Section housed within the Embassy of Pakistan," the lawsuit said. The suit is seeking appointment of an independent monitor to prevent any disclosures to Iran and halt any alleged information sharing with Iran's government, according to the filing.

Summary: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed lawsuit Plaintiff Kimberly Marasco failed to show protectable expression Dismissal with prejudice bars further amendments to complaint   A federal judge on July 6 dismissed a lawsuit accusing the newly married pop megastar Taylor Swift of plagiarizing phrases from a Florida woman's poems for more than a dozen songs. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said the plaintiff Kimberly Marasco failed to show that her poems constituted protectable expression, or that Swift had seen the poems and an average person would deem her songs substantially similar. Marasco represented herself. Reached by email, she said she disagreed with the decision and will appeal. Lawyers for Swift and the other defendants, including Republic Records and Universal Music Group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Swift, 36, was accused of copying details from Marasco's poetry books for songs including "Down Bad" and "I Can Do It with a Broken Heart," both from Swift's 2024 album "The Tortured Poets Department." But the judge said any commonality between Marasco's poems and Swift's songs consisted only of "unprotectable ideas, themes, metaphors, and isolated words." Cannon gave many illustrations, including confronting adversity, being "gaslighted" and being "submerged" under water. The judge dismissed an earlier version of Marasco's lawsuit last September. She said that where Marasco made new allegations, "the works are not even substantially similar -- a point plaintiff effectively concedes by characterizing the alleged copying as 'paraphrase,' 'rephrase,' and copying with 'minor word substitutions.'" The dismissal on July 6 was with prejudice, meaning Marasco cannot amend her complaint. Cannon's chambers are in Fort Pierce, Florida.