The Associates & Aldrich Company, Inc., a California Corporation v. The Times Mirror Company, a California Corporation

This appeal presents the question: May a federal court compel the publisher of a daily newspaper to accept and print advertising in the exact form submitted ? The district court, granting a motion to dismiss, answered the question in the negative. We affirm.

Appellant, a motion picture producer, sought to enjoin the appellee, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, from screening, censoring or otherwise changing appellant’s proffered advertising copy. Invoking the jurisdiction of the district court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 , 1343(3) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , it sought particu larly to restrain appellee from altering its advertisements for the motion picture, “The Killing of Sister George.”

It was alleged that the film had been widely distributed and reviewed, was of social importance, not obscene or otherwise unlawful and was a form of communication protected by the free speech and press guarantees of the First Amendment and the due process provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Further, it was said that the Times, with large advertising revenues, had “attained a substantial monopoly” in southern California. In Los Angeles and four surrounding counties, the Times accounted for 80% of…