Section 53-330 provides that no manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler shall, directly or indirectly, sell, supply, furnish, give, or pay for, or loan or lease, any furnishing, fixture, or equipment on the premises of a place of business of another licensee authorized under this act to sell alcoholic liquor at retail, either for consumption on or off the premises; nor shall he, directly or indirectly, pay for any such license, or advance, furnish, lend, or give money for payment of such license, or purchase or become the owner of any note, mortgage, or other evidence of indebtedness of such licensee or any form of security therefor, nor shall such manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler, directly or indirectly, be interested in the ownership, conduct, or operation of the business of any licensee authorized to sell alcoholic liquor at retail; nor shall any manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler be interested directly or indirectly, or as owner or part owner of said premises or as lessee or lessor thereof, in any premises upon which alcoholic liquor is sold at retail. No manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler shall, directly or indirectly or through a subsidiary or affiliate, or by any officer, director, or firm of such manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler, furnish, give, lend, or rent any interior decorations other than signs, or furnish, give, lend, or rent any signs, for inside or outside use, costing in the aggregate more than $100 in any one calendar year for use in or about or in connection with any one establishment on which products of the manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler are sold: Provided, Nothing in this act contained shall be construed as affecting existing signs. No person, engaged in the business of manufacturing, distributing, or wholesaling alcoholic liquors, shall, directly or indirectly, pay for, or advance, furnish, or lend money for the payment of any licenses for another. Any licensee who shall permit or assent, or be a party in any way to any violation or infringement of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this act; and any money loaned contrary to a provision of this act shall not be recovered back; and any note, mortgage, or other evidence of indebtedness, or security, or any lease or contract obtained or made contrary to this act shall be unenforceable and void. No person having been licensed as a manufacturer or distributor of alcoholic liquors shall be permitted to receive any retailer's license, and vice versa. Section 53-363 provides that any person who shall violate any other provisions of this act for which a penalty is not otherwise provided shall for a first offense be fined not more than $500, and for a second or subsequent offense not more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months, or both. See Tying Contracts and Exclusive Dealing Arrangements. Comp. Stat. (Kyle, Supp. 1937) Section 53-342 provides that no manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler shall enter into any contract with any person licensed to sell at retail whereby such licensee agrees not to sell any alcoholic liquors manufactured or distributed by any other manufacturer, distributor, or wholesaler, and any provision in any contract violative of this section shall render the whole of such contract void and no action shall be brought thereon in any court. Comp. Stat. (Kyle, Supp. 1937) Dairy Industry-Discrimination Sections 59-1001 to 59-1003 prohibit any unfair methods of competition and unfair acts in the buying of milk or cream on the basis of butterfats, which destroy, tend to destroy, or substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly. See MARKETING LAWS SURVEY Vol. State Price Control Legislation: Antidiscrimination Legislation. Motor Vehicle Dealers-Discrimination Sections 60-912 and 60-913 provide for denial or revocation of licenses of motor-vehicle dealers who willfully discriminate in price between different purchasers, where the effect of such discrimination may be to substantially lessen competition or to create a monopoly or to injure or destroy the business of a competitor. See vol. State Price Control Legislation: Antidiscrimination Legislation. 2. Public Contract Provisions Comp. Stat. (1929) Bridge Contractors Sections 59-601 to 59-603 provide that agreements, contracts, or combinations of bridge contractors directly or indirectly to pool prices, or divide between themselves their aggregate earnings, or fix the price to be charged for building, repairing, or furnishing bridge materials, or to allot exclusive territories are prohibited. See Tying Contracts and Exclusive Dealing Arrangements, infra. Textbooks Section 79-1805 provides that any contract for the purchase of textbooks, entered into by a district school board, shall become null and void at the option of such school board, if the publisher thereof becomes a party to any combination or trust for the purpose of raising the price of school textbooks. See Vol. Governmental Purchasing in projected study, MARKETING LAWS SURVEY. General Section 28-301 (in part) prohibits conspiracies to defraud the State. No provisions. Grain Dealers. 3. Anticoercive Financing Statutes Judicial Decisions Grain dealers found guilty of violating sections 28-1112 to 28-1114 and 59-201 to 59-204 prohibiting combinations of grain dealers and others to fix the price of grain are also liable and not exempted from the operation of the general antitrust laws, sections 50-101 and 59-801 to 59-822, applicable to all combinations created for the purposes of price fixing. State v. Omaha Elevator Co., 75 Neb. 637, 106 N. W. 979 (1906), and 110 N. W. 874 (1906). Fire Insurance Companies. Fire insurance companies are not exempted from the operation of the general antitrust laws, sections 59-101 and 59-801 to 59-822. State v. American Surety Co., 91 Neb. 22, 135 N. W. 365 (1912), reversing 90 Neb. 154, 133 N. W. 235 (1911). Public Contract Provisions In an action for an accounting between two parties who received a subcontract from a successful bidder, the validity of the bid was challenged on the ground that one of two bidders on a municipal curbing contract agreed that he would use his influence to procure the bid for the other in consideration of the other's agreement to sublet a certain portion of the contract to the former. The agreement was held invalid. Whalen v. Brennan, 34 Neb. 129, 51 N. W. 759 (1893). II. CONTRACTS NOT TO COMPETE No provisions. Judicial Decisions Restrictive Covenant Ancillary to the Sale of a Business. The vendor of a coal and lumber business and owner of the realty covenanted not to engage in the same business in the same town during the duration of the lease of the premises. The covenant was held valid as the lease was for 5 years with an option for an additional 5 years. Engles v. Morgenstern, 85 Neb. 51, 122 N. W. 688 (1909). A covenant not to compete in the laundry business in a certain city for 5 years made ancillary to the sale of such business is valid under the common law; the time and space limitations are reasonably restrictive. Downing v. Lewis, 56 Neb. 386, 76 N. W. 900 (1898). See General Antitrust Laws; Exceptions, supra. A covenant contained in a deed for the exchange of hotel properties, by which the grantee in one deed agreed not to use the property acquired by him for hotel purposes for 2 years, was upheld. Wittenberg v. Mollyneaux, 60 Neb. 583, 83 N. W. 842 (1900). A provision in a contract for the sale of the "stock of plumbing goods, supplies, tools, and fixtures" whereby the vendor agreed "not to engage or conduct, directly or indirectly, a plumbing, tinwork, or heating business within the county for 10 years" was upheld. The vendor was restrained from taking employment as a skilled workman with one of vendee's competitors by injunction. Ammon v. Keill, 95 Neb. 695, 146 N. W. 1009 (1914). A covenant ancillary to the sale of office furniture and insurance business that the vendor will not compete in such business is void as in restraint of trade because unlimited as to time or space. Roberts v. Lemont, 73 Neb. 365, 102 N. W. 770 (1905). An agreement not to engage in a similar business will not be implied from the inclusion of the seller's goodwill in a contract for the sale of stock and general merchandise. Wessell v. Havens, 91 Neb. 426, 136 N. W. 70 (1912). A verbal agreement not to engage in the banking business in the same town ancillary to the sale of the majority of the capital stock of a bank will be enforced. Farmers State Bank v. Petersburg State Bank, 108 Neb. 54, 187 N. W. 117 (1922). Restrictive Covenants Ancillary to Employment. A covenant not to solicit from employer's customers over a certain route for a period of 5 years after termination of employment will not be enforced where the employer first breached the agreement by lowering employee's wages, even though the employee continued work at reduced wages and where the contract was terminable at the will of the employer. Smith Baking Co. v. Behrens, 125 Neb. 718, 251 N. W. 826 (1933). Defendant doctor, formerly an employee of the sanitarium, purchased it and agreed, if forced to vacate the premises for default on any of the payments of the purchase price due, not to practice medicine within a radius of 150 miles of the sanitarium. In an action for the unpaid balance and an order to restrain defendant from engaging in the practice as agreed upon, the court held that the reasonableness of the restraint is measured by the need for protection, and that in this case the restriction was not unreasonable. Tarry v. Johnson, 114 Neb. 496, 208 N. W. 615 (1926). III. TYING CONTRACTS AND EXCLUSIVE DEALING ARRANGEMENTS Comp. Stat. (1929) spe Section 24-1303 (11) provides that any cooperative organized under sections 24-1301 to 24-1329, as amended (Kyle Supp. 1939) permitting the organization of a cooperative association for the transaction of any lawful business, may contract with its members to buy or sell exclusively through the association, all or a stipulated part of their cifically enumerated products, for any period up to five years, but in such case a reasonable period during each year after the first two years of the contract, shall be specified during which the member, by giving notice, may be released from such obligation. See Vol. Cooperatives in projected MARKETING LAWS SURVEY study. Agricultural Marketing Cooperatives Section 24-1405 (4) provides that nonstock agricultural cooperative marketing associations organized under sections 24-1401 to 241414, may enter into contracts with their members for periods not over five years, requiring them to sell or market all or a specified part of 210235°-40-vol. 1-34 |