A federal judge ruled in favor of the Justice Department in its effort to block to merger of Penguin Random House with Simon & Schuster.
Pan also ordered both sides in the case to meet to discuss proposed redactions to the opinion, which was kept under seal because it included confidential corporate information. Dan Petrocelli, representing Penguin Random House, argued that the government had created “an artificial market to create artificial concentration to create artificial harm.” He also challenged the methodology that the government used to scrutinize the merger.
“As we demonstrated throughout the trial, the Department of Justice’s focus on advances to the world’s best-paid authors instead of consumers or the intense competitiveness in the publishing sector runs contrary to its mission to ensure fair competition,” the spokesperson said. “We believe this merger will be pro-competitive, and we will continue to work closely with Paramount and Simon & Schuster on next steps.
HoegLaw, big update! Also cant believe your initial video on this is from almost exactly a year ago. Time flies.
The Biden era DOJ should tell Disney to sell off 20th Century Studios!