§ 75C-3 — Blind bidding prohibited

(a) Blind bidding for a first run motion picture is hereby prohibited within the State. No bids shall be returnable, no negotiations for the exhibition or licensing of a first run motion picture shall take place, and no license agreement or any of its terms shall be agreed to for the first run exhibition of any motion picture within the State before the motion picture has been trade screened within the State.
(b) A distributor shall include in each invitation to bid for the first run exhibition of any motion picture within the State the date, time and place of the trade screening of the motion picture within the State.
(c) A distributor shall provide reasonable and uniform notice to exhibitors within the State of all trade screenings within the State of motion pictures he is distributing. Such notice may be provided by mail or by publication in a trade magazine or other publication having general circulation among exhibitors within the State.
(d) No exhibitor may bid, negotiate, or offer terms for the licensing or exhibition of a motion picture that has been trade screened in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 75C-3 herein, unless said exhibitor or his agent has attended the trade screening.
The provisions of this subdivision (d) are subject to waiver by the distributor of a motion picture upon notice of such waiver to an exhibitor prior to the trade screening.
(e) Any purported waiver of the requirements of subdivisions (a) through (c) of this section shall be void and unenforceable. (1979, c. 463, s. 1.)