Ep. 273: The Antitrust Brawl Rocking The Publishing World

A $2.2 billion merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster has been put on ice after a federal judge found that the tie-up poses a likely threat to the market for publishing top-selling books. The ruling came after a three-week trial that saw testimony from literary giants like Stephen King who warned against the dangers of consolidation in the publishing industry. Joining Pro Say this week to break down the trial and the fallout from the merger’s blocking is Law360’s senior competition reporter, Matt Perlman. Also this week, a Seattle attorney faces potential discipline for fabricating an entire news outlet as part of his effort to force the payout of an $18 billion arbitration award against Chevron, and a popular YouTube lawyer sues for defamation against a website publisher who questioned his credentials. Finally, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger steps into the Supreme Court fray over state-level election policy.