Broadcast Music, Inc. v. CBS Inc.

Broadcast Music, Inc. v. CBS Inc.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 15, 1979 Decided April 17, 1979
Full case name	Broadcast Music, Inc., et al. v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., et al.
Citations	441 U.S. 1 (more) 99 S. Ct. 1551; 60 L. Ed. 2d 1; 201 U.S.P.Q. 497
Case history
Prior	CBS Inc. v. Am. Soc'y of Composers, Authors & Publishers, 562 F.2d 130, 195 U.S.P.Q. 209 (2d Cir. 1977); cert. granted, 439 U.S. 817 (1978).
Holding
The issuance by ASCAP and BMI of blanket licenses does not constitute price-fixing per se unlawful under the antitrust laws.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	White, joined by Burger, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist
Dissent	Stevens

Broadcast Music Inc. v. Columbia Broadcasting System Inc., 441 U.S. 1 (1979), was an important antitrust case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States.^[1] It examined a complaint brought by CBS affiliates that the method in which broadcast companies determine fees for the issuance of blanket licenses (the permission to use a set of copyrighted media materials) was a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Supreme Court ruled that the issuance of blanket licenses was not a violation of the act, holding that the nature of blanket licenses did not arise to price fixing.