BIGELOW ET AL. v. RKO RADIO PICTURES, INC. ET AL., 327 U.S. 251

Summary

Petitioner theatre owners brought suit against respondents, theatre owners and film distributors, claiming that petitioners had been discriminated against in the distribution of films in favor of competing theatres owned or controlled by respondents. The jury returned a verdict for petitioners and the district court awarded triple damages. The court of appeals reversed on the ground that the evidence of damage was not sufficient for submission to the jury. The Supreme Court found that there was evidence from which the jury could have found that respondents maintained a discriminatory system of distributing motion pictures by a conspiracy among themselves. The Court found that the evidence was ample to support a just and reasonable inference that petitioners were damaged by respondents' action, whose unlawfulness the jury had found and respondents did not challenge. The comparison of petitioners' receipts before and after respondents' unlawful action impinged on petitioners' business ...