Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas Frank Murphy · Robert H. Jackson

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United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.
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Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 9–11, 1948
Decided May 3, 1948
Full case name    United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. et al.
Citations    334 U.S. 131 (more)
68 S. Ct. 915; 92 L. Ed. 1260; 1948 U.S. LEXIS 2850; 77 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 243; 1948 Trade Cas. (CCH) P62,244
Prior history    Injunction granted, U.S. District Court (66 F.Supp. 323)
Holding
Practice of block booking and ownership of theater chains by film studios constituted anti-competitive and monopolistic trade practices.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Fred M. Vinson
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · Stanley F. Reed
Felix Frankfurter · William O. Douglas
Frank Murphy · Robert H. Jackson
Wiley B. Rutledge · Harold H. Burton
Case opinions
Majority    Douglas
Concur/dissent    Frankfurter
Jackson took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
Sherman Antitrust Act; 15 U.S.C. § 1, 2
    Wikisource has original text related to this article:
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.
United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., 334 US 131 (1948) (also known as the Hollywood Antitrust Case of 1948, the Paramount Case, the Paramount Decision or the Paramount Decree) was a landmark United States Supreme Court antitrust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusivity rights on which theatres would show their films. It would also change the way Hollywood movies were produced, distributed, and exhibited.[citation needed] The Court held in this case that the existing distribution scheme was in violation of the antitrust laws of the United States, which prohibit certain exclusive dealing arrangements.
The case is important both in U.S. antitrust law and film history. In the former, it remains a landmark decision in vertical integration cases; in the latter, it is seen as the first nail in the coffin of the old Hollywood studio system.
Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Decision
2.1 Douglas
2.2 Frankfurter