Broadcast Music v. CBS

Citation
Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 441 U.S. 1 (1979) (full-text).

U.S. Supreme Court Proceedings
The U.S. Supreme Court held that the issuance of blanket licenses by BMI &mdash; arguably a horizontal restriction on price competition among rivals &mdash; was not a per se violation of Sherman Act §1, because the practice facially appeared "to 'increase economic efficiency and render markets more, rather than less, competitive.'" The Court identified several efficiencies resulting from issuance of the licenses, including transaction, monitoring, and enforcement cost savings, before remanding the case for consideration under the "rule of reason" test.