Gary J. Chelson v. Oregonian Publishing Company, an Oregon Corporation, and Patrick L. Marlton

Plaintiffs-appellants sued alleging violations of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and section 3 of the Clayton Act. The district court granted summary judgment for defendants on the ground that plaintiffs failed to show antitrust injury. We hold that the case presents genuine issues of material fact and reverse.

I. Background

Chelson and the other appellants are independent newsdealers (“dealers”) who distribute the Portland Oregonian newspaper published by the appellee Oregonian Publishing Company (“Oregonian”). In late 1979 and early 1980, a number of dealers were approached by Advertising Distributor Services, Inc. (“A.D.S.”), a competitor of Oregonian in advertising services. A.D.S. was interested in having the dealers distribute advertising circulars in the Portland market. A.D.S. and the dealers were unable to reach "an agreement. A.D.S. eventually abandoned the metropolitan Portland market.

The dealers blame their failure to reach an agreement with A.D.S. on Oregonian, which they claim threatened to terminate any dealers who distributed inserts for A.D.S. They allege that Oregonian and its circulation director violated sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and section…

dissenting:

I would affirm summary judgment for the defendants on the narrow ground that plaintiffs have failed to adduce sufficient evidence of antitrust injury to raise a triable issue of fact. I cannot put it better than the district judge:

I therefore respectfully dissent.

715 F.2d 1368 1983-2 Trade Cases P 65,618 Gary J. CHELSON, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. OREGONIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, an Oregon corporation, and Patrick L. Marlton, Defendants-Appellees. No. 82-3201. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Jan. 3, 1983. Decided Sept. 14, 1983. As Amended Nov. 16, 1983. Richard H. Williams, George Wagner, Spears, Lubersky, Campbell & Bledsoe, Portland, Or., for defendants-appellees. Thomas A. Balmer, Rick T. Haselton, Frank Langfitt, Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler, Portland, Or., for plaintiffs-appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Before FERGUSON, BOOCHEVER, and NORRIS, Circuit Judges. BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge: 1 Plaintiffs-appellants sued alleging violations of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and section 3 of the Clayton Act. The district court granted summary judgment for defendants on the ground that plaintiffs failed to show antitrust injury. We hold that the case presents genuine issues of material fact and reverse. I. Background 2 Chelson and the other appellants are independent newsdealers ("dealers") who distribute the Portland Oregonian newspaper…