The Mansion That Disney Built: Revitalizing Antitrust Enforcement in the Film Industry

The Paramount Decrees, for over sixty years, barred the major film studios from anticompetitive practices like vertical integration and block-booking. The Department of Justice’s decision to sunset the Decrees in 2020 came prematurely, with the movie industry today rocked by major mergers, the advent of streaming, the pandemic, lessened output due to industry strikes, and changing consumer tastes. True, the industry has changed since 1948, but those very changes call for regulatory intervention to avoid repeating the problems of the past. For example, Disney’s recent merger and acquisition activity, together with the dominance of its in-house streaming service Disney+, is not just aggressive—it is anticompetitive in violation of antitrust law. Disney is not alone, with Warner Bros. and Paramount following suit. This behavior has already led to down-the-line effects on consumers, both in financial terms and in fewer, less creative options at the movie theater. This Note discusses the Department of Justice’s past approach to antitrust violations in the film industry through the Paramount Decrees, and why those Decrees were prematurely repealed. I analyze how Disney’s and other studios’ machinations have combined to reduce competition in the industry, and how the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming have played into industry changes. And, finally, I discuss practical solutions for regulation, especially new consent decrees, and how that might be realistically possible in the current presidential administration or afterwards.