An antitrust lawsuit filed by four independent film exhibitors, including the Denver Film Society, against Landmark Theatres can move forward following a ruling by a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The federal suit, filed in September of 2017, alleges that the Landmark theater chain fosters unlawful anti-competitive practices by coercing film distributors for the exclusive right to screen art, independent, foreign and documentary films.
The Denver Film Society, along with Cinema Detroit, West End Cinema and the Avalon Theatre (the latter two of Washington, D.C.), of using its market muscle to keep them from showing certain first-run movies in markets where they compete against the big art-house chain.
The plaintiffs are seeking relief, a jury trial and monetary damages.
“We’re pleased with the courtap decision in favor of our lawsuit moving forward,” the plaintiffs said in a news release Monday. “While we know there will be additional steps in the legal process, we’re confident that Landmark’s anti-competitive practices are unlawful, including Landmark’s insistence on exclusive rights to screen specialty films that eliminate local competition for those films despite consumer demand.”
On Friday, District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled, in part: “In sum, the plaintiffs sufficiently state an antitrust injury by ‘pointing to the specific damage done to consumers in the market.'”
