U.S v. Paramount Pictures: The Supreme Court Case that Changed Hollywood During the first half of the twentieth century, Hollywood was consumed by a legal drama: an antitrust case that dealt with the trade practices of film studios seeking to operate and thrive in the motion picture industry. The drama took place over the course of more than two decades, and the players involved included the major film studios, independent filmmakers and theater owners, government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department, and the US Supreme Court. When U.S. v. Paramount Pictures was finally decided in 1948 by the Supreme Court, the case would not only be a landmark decision in vertical integration cases, but would alter the movie …show more content…
And so, they immediately submitted appeals that sent the case to the Supreme Court. In May 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that the practice of block booking was illegal because it “prevents competitors from bidding for single features on their individual merits” (U.S v. Paramount Pictures, May 3, 1948, P.156-157). The court also forced studios to divest themselves from the theaters they owned, noting that their ownership was exclusionary and designed to “strengthen their hold on the exhibition field” (U.S v. Paramount Pictures, May 3, 1948, P.170). Immediately after the decision broke, many of the Hollywood studios entered into consent decrees with the Justice Department. These decrees not only banned practices like block booking, but also barred the studios from owning the movie theatres and distributing their movies at the same time. These decrees have been collectively known as the Paramount Decrees. The Supreme Court decision and the Paramount Decrees together transformed the movie
The United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1947) case deals with monopolies and antitrust laws. I chose the trusts/monopolies topic due to my interest in finance and economics. Since elementary school, I have been fascinated by John D. Rockefeller’s story about his oil monopoly. This history has caused me to be interested in monopolies and trusts. I began enjoy reading about the elite who obtained their wealth illegally. After reading and watching The Great Gatsby and watching the movie Catch
The documentary of the Hollywood Shootout showed clear issues in policing. These issues were surprising and impacted my view of policing. Firstly, police lack availability of high power weapons is shocking. The shootout lasted for nearly an hour. The documentary mentioned that the police officers only had smaller handguns and a few shotguns while the suspects had AK-47s and rifles (OnlyBim, 2021). There were around three hundred police officers present at the scene, and it still took them about an
leading up to 1927, the “Famous Five”: Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louise McKinney and Irene Parlby felt persecuted about not being persons by law. The women went to the Supreme Court since “Canada Act that said any five persons acting as a unit could petition the Supreme Court for an interpretation of any part of the constitution”(Evidence 1). Returning with a clear denial, the women went to the only highest power back then, the British Privy Council in order to see if
citizens to promote, protect, and view a diverse mosaic of ideas on screen. The censorship of film has been an issue since the Supreme Court made the notorious ruling on the case of Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial commission of Ohio on February 23, 1915. The case, which was initially about restricting commerce rather then freedom of speech, was brought to the Supreme Court after being rejected at the state level. In 1915, film censorship was done on the state level and The Mutual Fil... ...
pleased for the most part, and did not have to fear persecution for their beliefs or associations. The entertainment was reaching its prime with celebrities creating the greatest films and writings the country had ever seen (Pearson). This all changed in 1947, when President Harry Truman upset the waters. Earlier in the year, Truman ordered background checks of all the civilians in service. The results that this investigation found was unnerving. Alger Hiss, a high-ranking State Department official
According to Lim Woan Jinq (2015), "Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted sex-related behavior that recipients take to be offensive, such as unwelcome verbal and non-verbal sexual behavior" (p.468). Most women experience sexual harassment for the simple reason that they are women, but it does not mean men don't experience it as well. There are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo harassment, which occurs when a person of authority demands that employees allow sexual harassment as a condition
were constantly inundated, and it essentially became the new normal, as the statistics from 2013 show where over a majority of people are for same-sex marriage. In this way, it’s obvious that it’s not laws that have changed this culture, but instead it is the TV networks that have changed culture, leading to a change in laws.
Abstract: This paper discusses the ongoing court battle between the Motion Picture Association of America, supported by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and various defendants regarding the DeCSS program and its source code. DeCSS is a utility that allows the circumvention of the encryption built into most DVDs. Specifically, the paper examines the implications of the court decision on a range of issues including source code as free speech, HTML linking, and fair use. In 1998
Ronald Reagan was the true political icon of the twentieth century. The former president is one of the most beloved in American history, and was one of the most respected by foreign nations. Ronald Reagan’s political influence was unprecedented and changed the course of international history. Ronald Reagan began spreading his political opinion in a way most future politicians do not – acting. Reagan was a young and vibrant man which made him perfect for roles in the media. He had far more influence
The 1920s were marked as a period of change in the United States. The social changes started happening in the United States after the World War I ended in 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and arose many social conflicts. The end of World War I caused a recession, a temporary slump in the economy. Since the war was over, the United States was no longer a wartime economy. Instead, it became a consumer economy. The soldiers came home, but had trouble working because some had shell
Mitnick case was a very interesting case from the late 1900’s. According to CNN, “Kevin David Mitnick -- the most wanted computer hacker in the world, the inspiration for two Hollywood movies and a cyberspace cult hero -- had been scheduled to stand trial April 20 in Los Angeles in one of the most celebrated computer-related cases in history” (Christensen, 1999). The big question in Mitnick’s case was does Mitnick really have a case? Or
lack of concentration she tripped over her high heels and face plants into the dirt, giving the murderer a chance to catch up. Slowly he lowered the chainsaw and began cutting --CUT -- This is a common plot used in horror movies today. Movies have changed over the years. They were different five years ago, fifty years ago, and even a almost a century ago. Technologies have unthinkable things possible. They have allowed us to re-sink "the unsinkable ship." They have allowed us to see dinosaurs in
Introduction This essay explains the journey of Bollywood (Indian Film Industry) and how it has changed itself and its audience’s perspective on Hindi Cinema. Applying the key features from Dennis McQuail’s “Normative Theory”, the relationship between Bollywood and the audience, controlled by the censorship board will be explained; and how both, the Bollywood industry and Censor Board are responsible for bringing changes to each other in the terms of rules, regulations, audience’s attitudes and their
The 1920’s dramatically changed America in a heartbeat. For the first time in history, more people were living in larger cities than deep in towns. The United States was also richer than ever before. One of the first movie theaters opened in 1915 in New York City. Historians estimate that by the end of the decade, three-quarters of the American population visited a movie theater every week. This period of time was when the Eighteenth Amendment was in force and alcoholic beverages could not legally
and Procedures." The Life Center. Texas Department of Health, 2003. Web. 25 Feb. 2014 Levy, Pema. "The Abortion Case the Supreme Court May Find Hard to Refuse." MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. 17 Jan. 2014. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. Marcotte, Amanda. "Abortion Opinions Become More Geographically Separated." The Raw Story. The Raw Story, 4 Sep. 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. McBride, Alex. "Landmark Cases: Roe v. Wade." PBS. PBS, Dec. 2006. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Stanley, Timothy. "Why Abortions Are Way Down." CNN. Cable