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) was a landmark United States Supreme Court anti-trust case that decided the fate of movie studios owning their own theatres and holding exclusitivity rights on which theatres would show their films. It would also change the way Hollywood movies were produced, distributed, and exhibited. 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.

Fate of film libraries

The studios that were affected the most by the legal decision were Warner Bros., United Artists, and Paramount Pictures.

Related Topics:
Warner Bros. - United Artists - Paramount Pictures

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• WB sold the rights to its classic library to Associated Artists Productions, which would later become part of UA; these rights returned to Time-Warner (via Turner Entertainment) after a series of acquisitions.
• UA sold a majority of its sound library to an entity that would later become the rechristened Republic Pictures (although other companies and estates of UA stars/producers also hold rights to other components of the UA catalog).
• EMKA, Ltd. (the outlet of MCA) acquired most of Paramount's sound library up to 1949.

Universal, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Columbia Pictures were able to keep the rights to their libraries, although, decades later, Ted Turner would purchase the pre-1986 MGM library that Time-Warner would later acquire.

Related Topics:
Universal - 20th Century Fox - MGM - Columbia Pictures - Ted Turner

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