Media and Entertainment

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 December 11, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s finding that Apple Inc. (“Apple”) committed civil contempt based on Apple’s willful violations of a permanent injunction that Cravath client Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) previously secured against Apple. The Court of Appeals affirmed several contempt sanctions imposed by the District Court against Apple, while modifying or reversing in part certain other sanctions and remanding to the District Court for further proceedings. The Court also unanimously affirmed the denial of Apple’s request to vacate or modify the permanent injunction based on recent California state court decisions and denied Apple’s request to reassign the case to a different district judge on remand.

Cravath represented Juventus Football Club S.p.A., as U.S. counsel, in connection with its approximately €100 million capital increase by way of an accelerated bookbuild offering of ordinary shares. Juventus Football Club S.p.A. operates as a leading professional football club in Italy. Its core business centers around the football club’s participation in national and international football competitions. The shares were listed on Euronext Milan. The transaction closed on November 25, 2025.

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.” 

On December 8, 2025, Cravath partner Daniel J. Cerqueira was featured as a 2025 M&A MVP by Law360, which highlighted his role representing clients on numerous high-profile deals including Wiz in its $32 billion acquisition by Google and the Paramount Special Committee in Paramount’s $28 billion merger with Skydance. In the profile, Dan discussed helping clients navigate complex transactions in an unpredictable year for dealmaking and the “mix of contractual negotiation and technical skills, as well as a lot of strategic and tactical advice” that drew him to M&A early in his career. Dan also shared his advice for junior associates, noting “the importance of attention to detail, and making sure that you are confident in your work,” and encouraging them to “see the big picture, ask questions and really pay attention to the other parts of the deal,” as “the more curious and engaged you are, the quicker you'll advance.”

On November 28, 2025, Cravath’s antitrust practice was ranked among the “Elite” in Global Competition Review’s 2026 edition of GCR 100, a guide to the world’s best competition practices. This is the fourteenth consecutive year the Firm has been ranked in the highest tier among New York Firms by GCR. The publication highlighted Cravath as a “premier choice for major antitrust litigation, enforcement actions and high‑profile transactional matters,” noting its representations of clients including Corteva in antitrust litigation brought by the FTC and related putative class actions; Elsevier in putative class action antitrust litigation; Epic Systems in an action filed by Particle Health; and Wiz on antitrust matters in connection with its $32 billion acquisition by Google.