Cite as: 508 U. S. 49 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
"perform the copyrighted work[s] publicly." § 106(4). Ruling that such rental did not constitute public performance, the District Court entered summary judgment for PRE. 228 USPQ 743 (CD Cal. 1986). The Court of Appeals affirmed on the grounds that a hotel room was not a "public place" and that PRE did not "transmit or otherwise communicate" Columbia's motion pictures. 866 F. 2d 278 (CA9 1989). See 17 U. S. C. § 101 (1988 ed. and Supp. III).
On remand, Columbia sought summary judgment on PRE's antitrust claims, arguing that the original copyright infringement action was no sham and was therefore entitled to immunity under Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc., supra. Reasoning that the infringement action "was clearly a legitimate effort and therefore not a sham," 1990-1 Trade Cases ¶ 68,971, p. 63,242 (CD Cal. 1990), the District Court granted the motion:
"It was clear from the manner in which the case was presented that [Columbia was] seeking and expecting a favorable judgment. Although I decided against [Columbia], the case was far from easy to resolve, and it was evident from the opinion affirming my order that the Court of Appeals had trouble with it as well. I find that there was probable cause for bringing the action, regardless of whether the issue was considered a question of fact or of law." Id., at 63,243.
The court then denied PRE's request for further discovery on Columbia's intent in bringing the copyright action and dismissed PRE's state-law counterclaims without prejudice.
The Court of Appeals affirmed. 944 F. 2d 1525 (CA9 1991). After rejecting PRE's other allegations of anticompetitive conduct, see id., at 1528-1529,2 the court focused on
2 The Court of Appeals held that Columbia's alleged refusal to grant copyright licenses was not "separate and distinct" from the prosecution of its infringement suit. 944 F. 2d, at 1528. The court also held that PRE had failed to establish how it could have suffered antitrust injury from
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