United States v. American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers

FRIENDLY, Circuit Judge.

On March 14, 1950, the District Court for the Southern District of New York entered an amended consent decree in an action brought by the United States against the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) under the Sherman Act.1 The decree provided, inter alia, that ASCAP must “grant to any user making written application therefor a non-exclusive license to perform all of the compositions in the ASCAP repertory,” and that “AS-CAP shall, upon receipt of a written application for a license for the right of public performance of any, some or all of…