Warner Bros. sues Paramount over streaming rights for 'South Park'

• In the lawsuit over "South Park" streaming rights, a judge ruled in favor of Paramount on certain claims, siding against Warner Bros. Discovery.
• In 2019, Warner spent $500 million to make the "South Park" episodes available on its streaming platform.
• Paramount breached the contract by streaming "South Park" specials on Paramount+, as stated by the company.

On Tuesday, a judge ruled in favor of "South Park" creators on certain claims after they sued the streaming service earlier this year over streaming rights to the long-running animated series.

The New York state Supreme Court ruled that Paramount did not breach consumer protection laws by hosting "South Park" specials on its streaming platform, Paramount+. This decision comes after a February lawsuit filed by Warner, accusing Paramount of deceitfully withholding the specials and other "South Park" content to boost Paramount+ subscriptions.

Neither Paramount nor Warner Bros. responded to CNBC's request for comment on the matter.

In 2019, Warner paid $500 million to Paramount for the rights to stream "South Park" episodes on HBO Max. At the time, Paramount suggested sharing the rights between its streaming platforms, but Warner rejected the proposal. "South Park" is a popular show on Paramount's Comedy Central channel.

In 2021 and 2022, Paramount released "South Park: Post Covid" and "South Park: The Streaming Wars," respectively, exclusively on Paramount+. This led to a lawsuit by Warner, who is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars and alleging that Paramount caused them to overpay under the agreement.

In April, Paramount filed a countersuit against Warner, seeking $50 million in unpaid fees and denying allegations of breach of agreement. However, the counterclaim was later dismissed by Chan in October, ruling that Paramount did not make false statements in its description of specials in the original 2019 agreement.

In its lawsuit, Warner claimed that Paramount's behavior deceived customers and caused confusion about which streaming platform possessed the rights to the animated series.

On Tuesday, Chan rejected Warner's claim and stated that the allegation was a "private contract dispute" that did not harm consumers. Chan also pointed out that the complaint or materials provided by Warner did not prove "deceptive practices" by Paramount.

The allegations of breach of contract, tortious interference, and unjust enrichment made by Warner remain active.

Chan ordered a preliminary conference between the two parties on Dec. 13.