Associated Press v. United States

Associated Press v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 5–6, 1944 Decided June 18, 1945
Full case name	Associated Press v. United States; Tribune Company v. United States; United States v. Associated Press
Citations	326 U.S. 1 (more) 65 S. Ct. 1416; 89 L. Ed. 2013
Case history
Prior	Certiorari to the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York
Holding
The Associated Press violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by prohibiting member newspapers from selling or providing any news to nonmember organizations as well as making it very difficult for nonmember newspapers to join the AP.
Court membership
Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone Associate Justices Owen Roberts · Hugo Black Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy Robert H. Jackson · Wiley B. Rutledge
Case opinions
Majority	Black, joined by Reed, Douglas, Rutledge (in full); Stone, Roberts, Frankfurter, Murphy (in parts)
Concurrence	Douglas
Concurrence	Frankfurter (in judgment)
Concur/dissent	Roberts, joined by Stone
Concur/dissent	Murphy
Jackson took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945), was a United States Supreme Court case on U.S. antitrust law.

Facts[]

The Associated Press (AP) had prohibited member newspapers from selling or providing news (whether that news was supplied by the AP, or was authored by the member newspaper - called "spontaneous" news) to nonmember organizations as well as making it very difficult for nonmember newspapers to join the AP.

Originally there were three separate cases (Associated Press et al. v. U.S., Tribune Company et al. v. U.S. and U.S. v. Associated Press et al.) that were joined into one when heard at the Supreme Court.

Judgment[]

The Supreme Court held that Associated Press had violated the Sherman Act. The bylaws of AP at that time, as written, constituted restraint of trade. The fact that AP had not achieved a complete monopoly was irrelevant. The First Amendment did not excuse newspapers from violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. News, traded between states, counts as interstate commerce, and thus makes the issue relevant for the Sherman Antitrust Act. Finally, Freedom of the press from governmental interference under the First Amendment does not sanction repression of that freedom by private interests (326 U.S. 20).

See also[]

• US antitrust law
• International News Service v. Associated Press (1918) - a copyright Supreme Court case

Notes[]

External links[]

• Text of Associated Press v. United States, 326 U.S. 1 (1945) is available from: CourtListener  Findlaw  Justia  Library of Congress 

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