Exemptions To Antitrust Laws
The antitrust laws include several exemptions to their enforcement. These include labor unions, agricultural cooperatives, and banks.
Mergers and joint agreements of professional football, hockey, baseball, and basketball leagues are exempt. Both the National Football League and Major League Baseball have specific exemptions (see Federal Baseball Club v. National League and the AFL-NFL merger). The NFL's was in exchange for certain conditions, such as not directly competing with college or high school football. However, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in American Needle Inc. v. NFL established the NFL as a "cartel" of 32 independent businesses subject to antitrust law, not a single entity.
Newspapers under joint operating agreements are also allowed limited antitrust immunity under the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970. Insurance is allowed limited antitrust exemptions as provided by the McCarran-Ferguson Act, 15 U.S.C. ยง 1011, et seq.
The government may grant monopolies in certain industries such as utilities and infrastructure where multiple players are seen as unfeasible or impractical.
Antitrust laws do not prevent companies from using the legal system or political process to attempt to reduce competition. Most of these activities are considered legal under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. Also, regulations by states may be immune under the Parker immunity doctrine.
Read more about this topic: United States Antitrust Law
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