Which landmark case ended the Studio System and what did it do?

• A. The Disney Anti-Trust Case; required theater divestiture
• B. The Sesame Street Consent Decree; required educational content
• C. The Paramount Decree forced studios to divest ownership of movie theaters and banned block booking
• D. United States v. Sony Pictures; banned streaming exclusivity

Answer: (C)

Ending vertical integration in the film industry through antitrust action is the idea being tested here. The landmark remedy is the Paramount Decree of 1948, formally the consent decree in United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. It forced the major studios to divest themselves of theater ownership and banned block booking—the practice of forcing theaters to take a package of films, including less desirable ones, to secure the rights to the popular releases. By separating production/distribution from exhibition, theaters gained independence and studios could no longer guarantee their films would be shown by owning theaters.

This shift dismantled the Studio System’s control over all three stages of film making and distribution, opened the market to independent producers, and contributed to the era's broader changes in Hollywood and competition with television. The other options don’t reflect a real, historical move that ended the Studio System; they describe scenarios that don’t match the actual 1948 ruling.