News Publishing Co. v. Associated Press

114 Ill. App. 241, 1904 Ill. App. LEXIS 410
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 26, 1904·No. Gen. No. 11,289·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

Mr. Justice Windes

delivered the opinion of the court.

Appellant, a Wisconsin corporation, brought an action on the case against the Associated Press, an Illinois corporation, Victor F. Lawson; the president, and Frank B. Hoyes and Charles W. Knapp, directors respectively of the Associated Press, the appellees', omitting said Knapp, to recover damages by reason of an alleged unlawful combination and conspiracy of appellees and said Knapp, whereby appellant was compelled to pay for news service to be furnished to appellant’s daily paper, The Milwaukee News, the sum of $10,000, and to assign and surrender to said Associated Press certain guaranties held by appellant and executed by the publishers of the New York Herald, New York Tribune, New York Sun and New York Times, that the United Press, a news service association, a rival in business of said Associated Press, would perform its contract, whereby it agreed to furnish a news report for the term of five years from March 24, 1894, to appellant, and thereafter, until terminated by one year’s notice from said United Press. No service was had upon Knapp; the suit was discontinued as to him, and pleas of not guilty were filed by the other defendants. A jury trial resulted, at the close of the plaintiff’s evidence, on motion of defendants’ counsel, in a verdict for the defendants, which was directed by the court, and judgment thereon, from which this appeal is taken.

The general and controlling question presented by the record is whether the Associated Press, a corporation whose business was to gather and accumulate, sell, supply and distribute news reports to newspapers desiring to purchase the same, said business being public in its nature and impressed with a public interest, was bound to furnish the appellant with reports of the news- without discriminating against it, that is, without requiring appellant to pay in excess of other newspaper publishers for the same news reports the sum of $10,000 and to surrender to the Associated Press the said guaranties, which, it is claimed, were worth to appellant at least $8,000 more.

There being no conflict in the evidence, and the court ■ having directed the jury to find a verdict for the appellees, it is well settled that if the evidence on the part of appellant fairly tends to support its case, the motion to direct a verdict should have been denied. Offutt v. World’s Col. Exp’n, 175 Ill. 472; I. C. R. R. Co. v. Heisner, 192 Ill. 571-3.

The facts appearing from the record -are in the main as "follows: March 24, 1894, the appellant was engaged in publishing a daily afternoon paper at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known as the Daily Hews, to do which it was neces-sary to have telegraphic news. To get this news appellant that day entered into a contract with, and on March 26, 1894, it became a member of the United Press, an association organized under the laws of Illinois for the purpose of collecting and distributing news to newspapers throughout the United States. By the terms of this contract the United Press agreed to deliver to appellant for continuous use in its paper a leased wire daily news report, for which appellant agreed to pay $50 per week in advance, the agreement to continue five years from its date, and thereafter until terminated by one year’s notice in writing from the United Press to appellant or to the Germania Publishing Co., which was ¡also engaged in the publication of an afternoon newspaper in Milwaukee, and was a party to said agreement. Afterwards, on April 2, 1894, said United Press entered into an agreement of guaranty with appellant and said Germania Publishing Co., by which the United Press guaranteed “ that in the event of there being hereafter' made a working arrangement, combination, or any other plan of cooperation with any other newsgathering organization, through the operation of which it shall retire from active business in the west, or should it so retire from any other cause or reason whatsoever, The Hews Publishing Company and The Germania Publishing Company shall be protected in every way and the continuance of their telegraphic services permanently arranged for on the same basis of quality, quantity and cost as they now receive or as applies to other English and German evening papers in the city of Milwaukee.”

Following the signature of the United Press and apparently a part of this agreement, is the following further guaranty signed as follows, to wit:

“ In consideration of the parties of the first part entering into the above agreement, we do hereby guarantee the performarme by the party of the second part of the obligations imposed on it by the terms of the above agreement.
For the Herald—W. 0. Piece.
For the Tribune—D. Nicholson, Acting Publisher.
For the Sun—C. A. Dana, President.
The N. Y. Times Pub. Co.—G-. JR. Miller, President,
Geo. F. Spinney, Treasurer.”

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News Publishing Co. v. Associated Press, 114 Ill. App. 241, 1904 Ill. App. LEXIS 410 (Ill. Ct. App. 1904).

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