The Playrights Licensing Antitrust Initiative Act: Safegaurding the Future of American Live Theater

HEARING STATEMENT: "The Playwrights Licensing Antitrust Initiative Act: Safeguarding the Future of American Live Theater"
Contact: Amanda Flaig
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Speech of Senator DeWine:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding these hearings today. My remarks will be brief.
Competition is the organizing principle of the U.S. economy. The antitrust laws embody this principle. As Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall so eloquently summarized: "Antitrust laws in general, and the Sherman Act in particular, are the Magna Carta of free enterprise. They are as important to the preservation of economic freedom and our free-enterprise system as the Bill of Rights is to the protection of our fundamental personal freedoms."
Today there will be testimony from those who support a proposed exemption to the antitrust laws (the playwrights) and those who oppose it (the theater owners and producers). I will be honest-I think the playwrights, like anyone who seeks special treatment under the antitrust laws, bear a heavy burden of proof today. And, frankly, I question whether the playwrights can show such a compelling need.
In the past, in certain narrow instances, I have supported antitrust exemptions for a compelling need. But, this has been the exception, not the rule, as it ought to be.
Competition is the bedrock principle of our economy. Those who seek to have a different rule apply to their economic activity must build a persuasive case. I look forward to a better understanding of the arguments for and against the proposed antitrust exemption.