The entertainment industry is undergoing quite the transformation following the recent termination of the Paramount Consent Decrees, which effectively regulated the industry to prevent monopolization and promote competition for almost a century. The industry now faces a drastic surge in the utilization of streaming services and a new wave of antitrust issues.
“With great power comes great responsibility;” however, the dominant streaming companies in the industry have raised suspicion about emerging anticompetitive concerns. While long overdue, the termination of the Paramount Consent Decrees leaves a gaping hole in antitrust policy regarding the nuanced business practice of streaming platforms. Existing antitrust laws may be insufficient to protect consumers from potential harms as streaming services gain prominent traction in the film and television arenas. Expansion through vertical integration and related business practices echoes antitrust violations from over 70 years ago, when the Paramount Consent Decrees were first implemented. Thus, anticompetitive consideration is “paramount” to prevent history from repeating itself. This Note seeks to compare past violations with present actions, address one of the most dominant legal challenges in the entertainment media industry, and discuss possible solutions to counter this growing concern.
