15 U.S.C. § 26a — Restrictions on the purchase of gasohol

Page 40 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 26a Surface Transportation Board under subtitle IV of title 49. In any action under this section in which the plaintiff substantially prevails, the court shall award the cost of suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, to such plaintiff. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 16, 38 Stat. 737; Pub. L. 94–435, title III, § 302(3), Sept. 30, 1976, 90 Stat. 1396; Pub. L. 104–88, title III, § 318(3), Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 949.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The antitrust laws, referred to in text, are defined in section 12 of this title. AMENDMENTS 1995—Pub. L. 104–88 substituted ‘‘for injunctive relief against any common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board under subtitle IV of title 49’’ for ‘‘in equity for injunctive relief against any common carrier subject to the provisions of the Act to regulate commerce, approved February fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, in respect of any matter subject to the regulation, supervision, or other jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.’’ 1976—Pub. L. 94–435 inserted provision authorizing court to award costs, including attorneys’ fees, to a successful plaintiff. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1995 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 104–88 effective Jan. 1, 1996, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as an Effective Date note under section 1301 of Title 49, Transpor- tation. § 26a. Restrictions on the purchase of gasohol and synthetic motor fuel (a) Limitations on the use of credit instruments; sales, resales, and transfers Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall be unlawful for any person engaged in com- merce, in the course of such commerce, directly or indirectly to impose any condition, restric- tion, agreement, or understanding that— (1) limits the use of credit instruments in any transaction concerning the sale, resale, or transfer of gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel of equivalent usability in any case in which there is no similar limitation on trans- actions concerning such person’s conventional motor fuel; or (2) otherwise unreasonably discriminates against or unreasonably limits the sale, re- sale, or transfer of gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel of equivalent usability in any case in which such synthetic or conventional motor fuel is sold for use, consumption, or resale within the United States. (b) Credit fees; equivalent conventional motor fuel sales; labeling of pumps; product liabil- ity disclaimers; advertising support; fur- nishing facilities (1) Nothing in this section or in any other pro- vision of law in effect on December 2, 1980, which is specifically applicable to the sale of petro- leum products shall preclude any person referred to in subsection (a) from imposing a reasonable fee for credit on the sale, resale, or transfer of the gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel re- ferred to in subsection (a) if such fee equals no more than the actual costs to such person of ex- tending that credit. (2) The prohibitions in this section shall not apply to any person who makes available suffi- cient supplies of gasohol and other synthetic motor fuels of equivalent usability to satisfy his customers’ needs for such products, if the gas- ohol and other synthetic fuels are made avail- able on terms and conditions which are equiva- lent to the terms and conditions on which such person’s conventional motor fuel products are made available. (3) Nothing in this section shall— (A) preclude any person referred to in sub- section (a) from requiring reasonable labeling of pumps dispensing the gasohol or other syn- thetic motor fuel referred to in subsection (a) to indicate, as appropriate, that such gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel is not manufac- tured, distributed, or sold by such person; (B) preclude such person from issuing appro- priate disclaimers of product liability for dam- age resulting from use of the gasohol or other synthetic motor fuel; (C) require such person to provide adver- tising support for the gasohol or other syn- thetic motor fuel; or (D) require such person to furnish or provide, at such person’s own expense, any additional pumps, tanks, or other related facilities re- quired for the sale of the gasohol or other syn- thetic motor fuel. (c) ‘‘United States’’ defined As used in this section, ‘‘United States’’ in- cludes the several States, the District of Colum- bia, any territory of the United States, and any insular possession or other place under the juris- diction of the United States. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 26, as added Pub. L. 96–493, § 2, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2568.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE For short title of Pub. L. 96–493 as the ‘‘Gasohol Com- petition Act of 1980’’, see section 1 of Pub. L. 96–493, set out as a Short Title of 1980 Amendment note under sec- tion 1 of this title. § 26b. Application of antitrust laws to profes- sional major league baseball (a) Major league baseball subject to antitrust laws Subject to subsections (b) through (d), the conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of per- sons in the business of organized professional major league baseball directly relating to or af- fecting employment of major league baseball players to play baseball at the major league level are subject to the antitrust laws to the same extent such conduct, acts, practices, or agreements would be subject to the antitrust laws if engaged in by persons in any other pro- fessional sports business affecting interstate commerce. (b) Limitation of section No court shall rely on the enactment of this section as a basis for changing the application of