This action was brought under the provisions of section 7 of the Act of Congress of July 2, 1890, commonly called the Anti-Trust Act, c. 647, 26 Stat. 210 (Comp. St. § 8829). The complaint is long, but the allegations necessary to be considered here may be summarized as follows:
Plaintiff in error, a resident of the state of Nebraska, hereafter called the 'exhibitor,' owned a moving picture theater at Minden, in that state, and operated as lessee theaters in other places, to all of which, including his own, he supplied moving picture films and advertising matter connected therewith. In addition, he was in the business of selecting and distributing to a circuit of moving picture theaters, films and advertising matter accompanying them, under agreements with the various operators, some 20 or more in number, in various parts of the state.
The corporations named as defendants in error, hereafter called the 'distributors,' were located in the state of New York, and were there engaged in manufacturing motion picture films and distributing them throughout the United States. The method of distribution was to make public announcement from time to time that films, which had been manufactured and approved, would be released, and thereupon send them from New York, by express or parcel post, to agencies in numerous cities for delivery to exhibitors who hired and paid for their use.
Some of these distributors entered into contracts with the exhibitor, by the terms of which they leased motion pictures to him with the right and license to display them publicly at the theater or theaters named. The individual defendants named were managers of branch offices or agencies for the various distributors at Omaha, Neb., through which films were distributed to exhibitors in the states of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. These contracts by their terms were deemed made in New York, were to be construed according to the laws of that state, and provided that deliveries should be made to the exhibitor through the Omaha branch offices. The exhibitor, upon his part, agreed to accept and publicly exhibit the motion pictures for the periods of time fixed for which right he was to pay specified sums. When the use of the pictures was completed according to the contract, they were to be reshipped on advices given by the distributors.