Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States
| Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States | |
|---|---|
| Argued January 11, 1939 Decided February 13, 1939 | |
| Full case name | Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States |
| Citations | 306 U.S. 208 (more) 59 S. Ct. 467; 83 L. Ed. 610 |
| Holding | |
| It was an illegal hub-and-spoke conspiracy. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Stone, joined by Hughes, Stone, Black, Reed |
| Dissent | Roberts, joined by McReynolds, Butler |
| Frankfurter took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. United States, 306 U.S. 208 (1939), is a 1939 decision of the United States Supreme Court finding an antitrust price-fixing conspiracy based on what subsequently came to be known a hub-and-spoke conspiracy.
This is a conspiracy in which one actor (the "hub"), such as a supplier, enters into agreements with a number of actors (the "spokes"), such as retailers, who are aware that the supplier is entering into similar agreements with other retailers and that the success of the plan agreed to depends on the retailers all performing in accordance with the agreements. In this case, the hub was Interstate (a motion picture theater chain) and the spokes were various motion picture film distributors that supplied Interstate (and other theaters) with films.