Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (38 Stat. 730, original Statutes-at-Large extract)

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The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914, the second-pillar federal antitrust statute (supplementing the Sherman Act of 1890). Most directly baseball-relevant provision: Section 6 ('The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce') and Section 20 — these are the labor-exemption provisions that distinguish union activity from anti-competitive combination. The Clayton Act extends antitrust law to additional anti-competitive practices (price discrimination, exclusive dealing, mergers that may substantially lessen competition) and creates private rights of action with treble damages. For baseball: the line distinguishing an MLB-MLBPA labor dispute as 'antitrust' versus 'labor' is fundamentally a Clayton Act Sec. 6 / Sec. 20 distinction. The Curt Flood Act of 1998 (in this archive) restored Clayton Act and Sherman Act coverage to major league player employment matters specifically.

Background

Doctrinal context: the MLBPA's ability to engage in strike activity without antitrust liability traces to Clayton Act Sec. 6 + Sec. 20 plus the Norris-LaGuardia Act. The 1922 Federal Baseball SCOTUS decision predated this analysis (baseball was held not 'interstate commerce' at all, so neither the Sherman nor Clayton Act applied). The post-1972 Flood / Curt Flood Act framework restores Clayton/Sherman coverage to player employment matters specifically. Original primary-source form: this PDF is from the U.S. Statutes at Large vol. 38, p. 730 — the actual published session-law text, not the modern compiled version.

Key provisions

  • Sec. 2: Price discrimination prohibitions (Robinson-Patman amendments came later in 1936).
  • Sec. 3: Exclusive dealing and tying arrangements.
  • Sec. 6 ['labor of a human being is not a commodity']: Labor organizations and their members are NOT to be construed as illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade under the antitrust laws. Foundational labor-exemption language.
  • Sec. 7: Anti-merger provision (later amended by Celler-Kefauver Act 1950).
  • Sec. 8: Interlocking directorate prohibitions.
  • Sec. 20: Restrictions on injunctions in labor disputes (limited by later case law and the 1932 Norris-LaGuardia Act).

Further context

Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914

Second-pillar federal antitrust statute. Most baseball-relevant for the Sec. 6 / Sec. 20 labor exemption that protects union activity from antitrust attack.

Source: original Statutes at Large vol. 38 page 730 extract (Public Law 63-212).

References

  1. Primary source: uslaw.link — U.S. Government Publishing Office (Statutes at Large extract), retrieved 2026-05-18.
  2. Confirmation source: uslaw.link — uslaw.link.
  3. File fingerprint: SHA256 502f1285c6d9ef63341dd708ade3ab738f5a7670fcf8390a63e5a3a0f561d84f.

Evidence trail

Per archive editorial standards §1.3 and §1.4, verified documents require two independent confirmation sources and an archive.org snapshot. This panel is the integrity record the archive holds for this document.

File integrity

SHA256
502f1285c6d9ef63341dd708ade3ab738f5a7670fcf8390a63e5a3a0f561d84f
Filename
1914-10-15_legislation_clayton-antitrust-act-38-stat-730.pdf
Format
PDF · 11 pp · 526 KB
Retrieved
2026-05-18 by claude/cowork-9167cb28 (uploaded by alex)
Primary URL
https://uslaw.link/citation/us-law/public/63/212

Confirmation sources (1)

Publisher Retrieved URL Notes
uslaw.link 2026-05-18 https://uslaw.link/citation/us-law/public/63/212

Most recent status change

needs_review on 2026-05-18 by claude/cowork-9167cb28.

**Phase 1 wantlist hit cleared.** Original Statutes-at-Large vol. 38 page 730 extract of the Clayton Antitrust Act.

Source provenance