Facts of the case

I have chosen the Supreme Court case The United States vs. Paramount Pictures Inc. This legal issue originated when the Federal Trade Commission began investigating film companies for potential violation under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Federal Trade Commission is an Independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. The main purpose of the Federal Trade Commission is to eliminate and prevent anti-competitive business practices. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the first United States Federal statute to limit cartels and monopoly. It falls under antitrust law. The Act provides: "Every contract, combination in the form of Trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal". The major film studios owned the theaters where their motion pictures were being shown, either in partnerships or outright and complete. These specific theater chains showed only the films produced by the studio that owned them. The studios created the films, had the writers, directors, producers and actors on staff ("under contract" as it was called), owned the film processing and laboratories, created the prints and distributed them through the theaters that they owned. The film studios were monopolizing theaters so they can manipulate the amount of sales that they had. (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/United_States_v._Paramount_Pictures,_Inc)