Media and Entertainment

On February 27, 2026, Paramount Skydance Corporation (“Paramount”) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. ("WBD") announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount will pay $31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD. The transaction values WBD at an enterprise value of $110 billion, and has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Cravath is representing Paramount in connection with the transaction.

Cravath represented The Walt Disney Company in connection with its $4 billion registered notes offering. The Walt Disney Company is a diversified worldwide entertainment company. The transaction closed on February 12, 2026.

On January 30, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted with prejudice Cravath client Elsevier B.V.’s (“Elsevier”) motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit alleging an international conspiracy to fix prices and suppress competition in peer‑reviewed scholarly journal publishing.

Cravath represented the initial purchasers in connection with the $1 billion 144A/Reg. S high‑yield senior notes offering of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, Canada's Wonderland Company and Millennium Operations LLC. Six Flags is North America’s largest regional amusement‑resort operator with 26 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across 16 states in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The transaction closed on January 14, 2026.

On December 18, 2025, WildBrain Ltd. (“WildBrain”) announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its 41% stake in Peanuts Holdings LLC (“Peanuts”), the holding entity for the Peanuts IP, to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (together, “Sony”) for C$630 million cash. The ownership of rights to the Peanuts brand and the management of its business are handled by Peanuts Worldwide LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Peanuts. The family of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, retain their 20% stake in the brand. Cravath is representing the family of Charles M. Schulz in connection with the transaction.

On February 20, 2026, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 8 Cravath partners in its annual list of the “500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers.” The list, assembled based on research and vetting by peers, recognizes lawyers who “are at the center of it all, protecting brands, advising on ownership rights and investments, and heading off legal and reputational risk for globally recognized individuals.”

On February 12, 2026, Cravath partners D. Scott Bennett, Elad Roisman, Nicholas A. Dorsey and Sasha Rosenthal‑Larrea were profiled in Lawdragon’s “Lawyer Limelight” series in connection with the Firm’s work for “companies at the forefront of innovation in digital assets, AI, fintech, biotech, media and emerging technologies.”

On January 27, 2026, Cravath published the first edition of its Artificial Intelligence Developments Newsletter, which includes a high‑level review of activity across technical, regulatory, legal, and market areas of AI in the last three months.  

On January 26, 2026, Cravath partner Wes Earnhardt participated in the Copyright Society’s 2026 Winter Meeting, which was held from January 24‑26 in Rancho Mirage, California and sought collaborative exchange and discourse on the most critical, cutting‑edge issues in copyright and intellectual property. Wes spoke on a panel entitled “Old Claims, Ongoing Risks: Repose in a Post‑Petrella World,” which reviewed the evolving copyright litigation landscape in the decade since the Supreme Court’s landmark Petrella v. MGM decision. The discussion covered topics including whether alternative equitable defenses have filled the laches gap, the impact of the Court’s recent Warner Chappell v. Nealy ruling on legal certainty and the practical risks associated with the broadened scope of legacy claims.

On December 9, 2025, Cravath partner Gary A. Bornstein was featured as a 2025 Competition MVP by Law360, which highlighted his representation of Epic Games in separate antitrust lawsuits against Apple and Google, including securing a District Court decision that Apple violated an anti‑steering injunction, and a victory at the Ninth Circuit affirming Epic Games’ antitrust trial victory and permanent injunction against Google. In the profile, Gary discussed the satisfaction of winning difficult cases, explaining it’s “always a more gratifying victory when the outcome is not assured.” Gary also addressed the challenges of antitrust work, noting that antitrust issues are “company‑defining” and that “working as outside counsel on those cases is really counseling the senior people at the company on issues that go to the heart of their business. It requires you to have a commercial perspective on what's going on.”