Law Commons^™

Increasing Competition In Live Music: The Case For Better Enforcement Of The Live Nation Entertainment Consent Decree, Tj Hunt

Cleveland State Law Review

In 2009, Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment expressed their intent to merge to become Live Nation Entertainment. Before the merger, Ticketmaster Entertainment was the leading live music ticketing and marketing company. Live Nation was the leading producer of live music events. Live Nation also entered the primary ticket sales market and led merchandising at its entertainment venues. Antitrust concerns arose that this newly formed entity would be a near-monopoly in live music. Despite general antitrust concerns and lawsuits from consumers, smaller promoters, seventeen state attorneys general, and the Department of Justice (“DOJ"), Live Nation Entertainment agreed to a consent decree …

The Minor Leagues Strike Out: The Legal Issues Arising From Leaving Certain Minor League Teams On The Bench In Major League Baseball's Revamped Minor League System, Jakob Siegfried

Et Cetera

Minor league baseball is an essential part of the sport of baseball. However, Major League Baseball has forever changed the sport through its reorganization of the minor leagues. As part of this reorganization plan, forty-three minor league teams lost their affiliation to the major leagues. MLB has justified this plan by stating they want to improve working conditions for minor leaguers by improving stadium facilities and travel conditions. Still, losing an affiliation is a major blow to teams financially, and minor league team owners had little power to stop the reorganization plan from happening because of the imbalance of power …

Sherman's Missing "Supplement": Prosecutorial Capacity, Agency Incentives, And The False Dawn Of Antitrust Federalism, Daniel E. Rauch

Cleveland State Law Review

When the Sherman Act passed in 1890, it was widely expected that it would operate primarily as a "supplement" to vigorous state-level antitrust enforcement of state antitrust statutes. This did not happen. Instead, confounding the predictions of Congress, the academy, and the trusts themselves, state antitrust enforcement overwhelmingly failed to take root in the years between 1890 and the First World War. To date, many scholars have noted this legal-historical anomaly. None, however, have rigorously or correctly explained what caused it. This Article does.

Using historical and empirical research, this Article establishes that the best explanation for the early failure …

Conspiracy Allegations In The Stock Loan Market: Why Plaintiffs Should Be Seeking A Remedy In Congress And Not In Court, Danielle P. Katz

Et Cetera

This Article first provides a comprehensive analysis of conspiracy allegations in over-the-counter markets, focusing on the stock loan market as an exemplar.

Multiple conspiracy claims, implicating antitrust law, have been brought regarding over the counter markets since the financial crisis of 2008. The biggest banks in the country have been the center of novel complaints, new regulations, and innovative legislation in the recent years. But, despite regulation and legislation, Sherman Act litigation alleging conspiracy has endured as plaintiffs claim that big banks are conspiring to fix markets when, in fact, they are exercising economies of scale to provide unique, tailored …

Intellectual Property For Breakfast: Market Power And Informative Symbols In The Marketplace, P. Sean Morris

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article continues to examine an important question: are trademarks a source of market power, or, put differently, when are trademarks an antitrust problem? This fundamental question is a cause of division among antitrust and intellectual property law scholars. However, by raising the question and presenting some scenarios that can provide answers, my hope is that contemporary antitrust and intellectual property scholars can explore some of its implications. As part of my own quest to address this question, I explore the proposition that creative deception and the wealth-generating capacity of trademarks are unorthodox elements that actually contribute to allegations of …

Agribusiness And Antitrust: The Bayer-Monsanto Merger, Its Legality, And Its Effect On The United States And European Union, Aleah Douglas

Global Business Law Review

This note examines the current and historical antitrust laws of the United States and the European Union as they relate to the currently pending merger between Bayer and Monsanto. It focuses alternatively on the legality of the merger under modern antitrust laws and the impact such a deal could have on the agribusiness industry in both Europe and the United States. Ultimately, the note argues that the Bayer-Monsanto merger is illegal and should be blocked by the proper authorities in the United States and the European Union.

An Examination Of Product Hopping By Brand-Name Prescription Drug Manufacturers: The Problem And A Proposed Solution, Daniel Burke

Cleveland State Law Review

The balance between incentivizing innovation through exclusivity protection and maintaining competitive market conditions—including prices for consumers—is a difficult line to toe. Product hopping has characteristics that constitute a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act because companies can maintain monopoly power in the pharmaceutical market. While some monopoly power is justified as an incentive for incredibly costly innovation, extended periods of exclusivity harms consumers by keeping prescription drug prices artificially inflated. Allowing generic drug manufacturers to compete sooner in the prescription drug market by disallowing product hopping by name-brand pharmaceutical drug companies will aid in driving down prices. Courts should adopt …

A Quest For Consistency: The Meaning Of 'Direct' In The Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act, Richard Lobas

Global Business Law Review

This note argues that the United States courts need to apply a more consistent interpretation of the meaning of "direct" within the context of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act (FTAIA). The FTAIA serves to apply U.S. antitrust law, specifically the Sherman Act, to trade or commerce with foreign nations. One scenario in which this law may be applied is when trade or commerce with a foreign nation has a "direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable" effect on domestic commerce. However, courts purport to apply different standards to determine whether an effect is direct, leading to confusion and inconsistency. Contributing to …

Colluding Under The Radar: Achieving Collusion Through Vertical Exchange Of Information, Julia Shamir, Noam Shamir Recanati Graduate School Of Business, Tel Aviv University

Cleveland State Law Review

In the absence of antitrust regulations, rational profit-maximizing firms in an oligopoly may freely act in consort to reach a consensus and to maintain prices above the competitive level. However, in light of potential exposure to antitrust investigations and prospective heavy sanctions, firms attempt to achieve collusive outcomes without resorting to explicit agreements. One mechanism that may promote such tacit collusion is information-sharing; that is, the otherwise competing firms exchange their private information in order to set and maintain supra-competitive prices. Thus far, the attention of the antitrust authorities and scholars has focused on the phenomenon of horizontal information-sharing, i.e., …

Novel Neutrality Claims Against Internet Platforms: A Reasonable Framework For Initial Scrutiny , Jeffrey Jarosch

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article examines a recent trend in which the Federal Trade Commission and other enforcement agencies investigate Internet platforms for behavior that is insufficiently “neutral” towards users or third parties that interact with the platform. For example, Google faces a formal FTC investigation based on allegations that it has tinkered with search results rather than presenting users with a “neutral” result. Twitter faces a formal investigation after the social media service restricted the ways in which third party developers could interact with Twitter through its application programming interface (“API”). These investigations represent a new attempt to shift the network neutrality …

On The Ramifications Of Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. Psks, Inc.: Art Tie-Ins Next Essay , Alan Devlin

Cleveland State Law Review

This Essay considers whether the Roberts Court would now overrule the last bastion of the Harvard School-the rule against product tying-if given the opportunity. The economic arguments against per se treatment of tie-ins apply a fortiori to those against resale price maintenance. In addition, applying the line of thought followed by the majority in Leegin leads inexorably to the conclusion that the per se rule proscribing tying arrangements should be similarly overruled. Part II explains the business practice of resale price maintenance and the law's formerly mistaken understanding of its consequences. The Leegin case will then be introduced and compendiously …

The Antitrust Legacy Of Justice William O. Douglas, C. Paul Rogers Iii

Cleveland State Law Review

One cannot study the history of antitrust law without running headlong into the opinions of Associate Justice William 0. Douglas. In his thirty-six years on the Supreme Court, he authored thirty-five majority opinions and nearly as many dissenting or concurring opinions in cases involving antitrust questions or issues. It is quite probable that Justice Douglas authored more antitrust opinions, both for the majority and in dissent, than any Supreme Court justice in history. This Article will attempt to further define and refine Justice Douglas' antitrust philosophy by examining his written opinions and writings. It will then attempt to measure that …

Monopoly Leveraging In Verizon Communications V. Law Offices Of Curtis V. Trinko, Llp: Why The United States Supreme Court Should Draw A Clear Line For Anticompetitive Behavior Violative Of The Sherman Act, Anthony J. Lazzaro

Cleveland State Law Review

The Court should draw the line for anticompetitive behavior violative of the Sherman Act above the mere gain of a competitive advantage in the second market. If the Supreme Court were to draw the line at this level, the circuit split and the resulting confusion would be ameliorated. By recognizing the three types of conduct that characterize monopoly leveraging, with the exception to the third type of conduct, the Supreme Court would provide much needed guidance for the lower federal courts in determining whether a firm's behavior in a given case rises to the level of the monopoly leveraging. The …

How Mfn Clauses Used In The Health Care Industry Unreasonably Restrain Trade Under The Sherman Act, Beth Ann Wright

Journal of Law and Health

When used in the health care industry, an MFN clause is a contractual agreement that guarantees a health insurer the same best price as their market competitors. MFN clauses have the effect of unnecessarily raising consumer costs, reducing choice among providers, constraining access to care and preventing the development of alternative health care delivery models. The purpose of this paper is four-fold. First, to design a four-quadrant matrix to evaluate the pro-competitive and anticompetitive purpose and effects of MFN clauses under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Second, to defeat the jurisprudential presumption that MFN clauses are pro-competitive in the …

Can Cleveland Clinic Health System Be Trusted: Whether A Proposed Merger Or Acquisition By Cleveland Clinic Health System Will Substantially Impair The Competitive Health Care Market In Northeast Ohio Resulting In A Violation Of Federal Antitrust Statutes, Matthew T. Polito

Journal of Law and Health

This article analyzes the implications of the Clayton Antitrust Act (Clayton Act) and the Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act) as they pertain to the Cleveland Clinic Health System (CCHS). Part One provides background analysis of these two statutes, and the application of those statutes to mergers in the health care industry. Part Two discusses the elements needed to prove the government's prima facie case. This consists of a discussion of a relevant market, which includes the product and geographic markets. This section also contains a description and analysis of market concentration, measured by the Herfindahl-HIrschman Index (HHI). Part Three provides …

The Stifling Of Competition By The Antitrust Laws: The Irony Of The Health Care Industry, John A. Powers

Journal of Law and Health

The text to follow is intended to provide an overview of the legal basis for the imbalance of power currently inherent to the health care industry, suggesting several reasons for its development. It also provides an outline of the current basis for antitrust liability in this country and describes some possible solutions. The most practical and effective means through which to rectify this imbalance would be to enact new federal legislation that would amend the antitrust laws to allow for limited "unionization" of independently practicing physicians for collective bargaining purposes.

Antitrust Damages For Consumer Welfare Loss, David C. Hjelmfelt, Channing D. Strother Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

Section 4 of the Clayton Act provides that any person who is injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws "shall recover threefold the damages by him sustained." The current private enforcement model usually permits plaintiffs to recover damages based upon the excessive prices charged to consumers. However, economists see the real loss to society from an antitrust violation to be the consumer welfare loss which results from reduced output. The authors have been unable to locate any antitrust case which has permitted recovery of damages for this consumer welfare loss. Therefore, this …

Antitrust Standing And The Rule Against Resale Price Maintenance, Donald J. Polden

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article examines the textual and prudential foundations of the antitrust standing and antitrust injury doctrines. This examination is conducted through a textual analysis of section 4 of the Clayton Act, which provides a private right of action for persons injured by violations of the antitrust laws, and a developmental review of the principal Supreme Court cases articulating and applying those doctrines. This examination concludes that the Court has crafted antitrust standing and injury doctrines which in part either contradict the textual requirements of section 4 or which are not rooted in any perceptible notion of legitimate statutory objectives. The …

Antitrust Improvements Act Of 1976, Parens Patriae Act: Paper Tiger Or Sleeping Giant, Patricia J. O'Donnell-Gaynor

Cleveland State Law Review

The Parens Patriae Act has been in effect for several years. Although there has been relatively little time in which to test the full measure of its effectiveness, it has gradually become apparent that much of the Act's promise remains unfulfilled. Recent federal court decisions, when coupled with the problems of funding which are being encountered by many state attorneys general, might be endangering the Act's continuing vitality and undercutting the legislature's intent in enacting the measure. This Note will discuss some of the major issues which are emerging under the Act and will attempt to separate the promise from …

Contract Market Self-Regulation Under The Commodity Exchange Act, Marshall J. Nachbar

Cleveland State Law Review

On May 3, 1982, the Supreme Court decided Curran v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. The Court answered the question o fwhether there was a private right of action for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act by holding that there was an implied right of action. In Curran, the CFTC had argued that a private right of action strengthens the enforcement and regulatory mechanisms already in place. The Court apparently found this to be a persuasive argument. Whether a private right of action will have the desired effect remains to be seen.

City Of Cleveland V. Cei: A Case Study In Attempts To Monopolize By Regulated Utilities, Barry Kellman, Nicholas J. Marino

Cleveland State Law Review

In Cleveland, Ohio a legal controversy had developed which compels the judiciary to evaluate the limits of competition. Seventy years of head-to-head combat between a large investor-owned electric system and a smaller city-owned company has entered the federal courts as an issue to be resolved under section two of the Sherman Act. The precise issue is whether a refusal by the larger utility to sell or wheel power to the smaller utility constitutes an illegal act of monopolization. To resolve this issue, the judiciary must superimpose upon a stormy political dispute an abstract formulation of proper and improper business conduct. …

Protest Boycotts As Restraints Of Trade Under The Sherman Act: A Proposed Standard, Francis M. Allegra

Cleveland State Law Review

This paper will maintain that genuine protest boycotts are not anticompetitive because they do not restrict the economic freedom of either the participants or the boycotted entity; nor are they used to enforce an anticompetitive practice, such as collusion or horizontal exclusion. In Part II, cases dealing with unilateral and concerted refusals to deal will be examined to determine under which circumstances refusals to deal are illegal. Part III will analyze two recent protest boycotts cases: Crown Central Petroleum v. Waldman, and Osborn v. Pennsylvania-Delaware Service Station. The legal standards used in these cases will be rejected in Part IV …

A Practical Approach To Representation Of A Client During A Federal Antitrust Grand Jury Investigation, Carl L. Steinhouse

Cleveland State Law Review

Generally, in white-collar crime situations, particularly antitrust, the first time a client may know he is under investigation is after the grand jury proceedings have commenced. The client will usually find out about the investigation through the industry grapevine, through the receipt of a subpoena by his employer or through a subpoena ad testificandum to an individual in his company. It is necessary for an attorney to understand the investigative process in order to properly represent his client in the antitrust proceedings that follow.

A Practical Approach To Representation Of A Client During A Federal Antitrust Grand Jury Investigation, Carl L. Steinhouse

Cleveland State Law Review

Generally, in white-collar crime situations, particularly antitrust, the first time a client may know he is under investigation is after the grand jury proceedings have commenced. The client will usually find out about the investigation through the industry grapevine, through the receipt of a subpoena by his employer or through a subpoena ad testificandum to an individual in his company. It is necessary for an attorney to understand the investigative process in order to properly represent his client in the antitrust proceedings that follow.

Defining Market Under The Clayton Act: Consideration Of Technological Capacity, Carol Szczepanik

Cleveland State Law Review

This article will discuss technological capacity, an economic consideration to which some courts seem to give insubstantial consideration in challenges to section 7 of the Clayton Act. If courts consistently evaluated evidence of technological capacity, section 7 could be more effective in prohibiting mergers that have the effect of lessening competition in an economically significant market.

Analysis Of The Ftc Line Of Business And Corporate Patterns Reports Litigation, Douglas P. Whipple

Cleveland State Law Review

Under the auspices of the information gathering authority granted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Commission has developed two corporate report programs entitled "The Line of Business [LB] Report Program" and "The Corporate Patterns Report [CPR] Program." These broad-based statistical surveys solicit from domestic corporations information on financial performance, value of shipments, net manufacturing activities, and significant acquisitions and disposals. The LB and CPR survey orders were issued to hundreds of corporations, mostly giant conglomerates. Predictably, the corporations resisted the report requirements. The inevitable result of this dispute over the LB and CPR …

Misprision Of Antitrust Felony, Robert J. Hoerner

Cleveland State Law Review

When an attorney discovers clear evidence that his corporate client has committed an antitrust felony, he and his client are immediately confronted with an interrelated tangle of extraordinarily difficult questions. There has been much concern over these questions, particularly since violation of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Sherman Act became indictable as felonies on December 21, 1974. Little has been written, however, on the misprision issue. Antitrust practitioners are not ordinarily trained in the contours of 18 U.S.C. § 4, the federal misprision statute. Our criminal practice is typically in rarified and antiseptic economic fields, and does not …

Defining Market Under The Clayton Act: Consideration Of Technological Capacity, Carol Szczepanik

Cleveland State Law Review

This article will discuss technological capacity, an economic consideration to which some courts seem to give insubstantial consideration in challenges to section 7 of the Clayton Act. If courts consistently evaluated evidence of technological capacity, section 7 could be more effective in prohibiting mergers that have the effect of lessening competition in an economically significant market.

Misprision Of Antitrust Felony, Robert J. Hoerner

Cleveland State Law Review

When an attorney discovers clear evidence that his corporate client has committed an antitrust felony, he and his client are immediately confronted with an interrelated tangle of extraordinarily difficult questions. There has been much concern over these questions, particularly since violation of sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Sherman Act became indictable as felonies on December 21, 1974. Little has been written, however, on the misprision issue. Antitrust practitioners are not ordinarily trained in the contours of 18 U.S.C. § 4, the federal misprision statute. Our criminal practice is typically in rarified and antiseptic economic fields, and does not …

The N.F.L.'S Final Victory Over Smith V. Pro-Football, Inc.: Single Entity - Interleague Economic Analysis, Terrance Ahern

Cleveland State Law Review

The financial expansion of the N.F.L. has been accompanied by the promulgation of league rules to ensure league stability. These rules include several player service market restraints, which have been adopted by the N.F.L. to ensure competitive equality between the franchises. This note analyzes the validity of these restraints under the Sherman Antitrust Act in light of the recent decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in Smith v. Pro Football, Inc. and presents a new approach to the economic structure of the N.F.L. which may validate the current restraints.