16600.  Except as provided in this chapter, every contract by which
anyone is restrained from engaging in a lawful profession, trade, or
business of any kind is to that extent void.



16601.  Any person who sells the goodwill of a business, or any
shareholder of a corporation selling or otherwise disposing of all
his shares in said corporation, or any shareholder of a corporation
which sells (a) all or substantially all of its operating assets
together with the goodwill of the corporation, (b) all or
substantially all of the operating assets of a division or a
subsidiary of the corporation together with the goodwill of such
division or subsidiary, or (c) all of the shares of any subsidiary,
may agree with the buyer to refrain from carrying on a similar
business within a specified county or counties, city or cities, or a
part thereof, in which the business so sold, or that of said
corporation, division, or subsidiary has been carried on, so long as
the buyer, or any person deriving title to the goodwill or shares
from him, carries on a like business therein.  For the purposes of
this section, "subsidiary" shall mean any corporation, a majority of
whose voting shares are owned by the selling corporation.



16602.  (a) Any partner may, upon or in anticipation of any of the
circumstances described in subdivision (b), agree that he or she will
not carry on a similar business within a specified county or
counties, city or cities, or a part thereof, where the partnership
business has been transacted, so long as any other member of the
partnership, or any person deriving title to the business or its
goodwill from any such other member of the partnership, carries on a
like business therein.
   (b) Subdivision (a) applies to any of the following circumstances:

   (1) A dissolution of the partnership.
   (2) Dissociation of the partner from the partnership.
   (3) A sale or other disposition of the partner's interest in a
partnership.



16602.5.  Any member may, upon or in anticipation of a dissolution
of a limited liability company or a sale of his or her or its
interest in a limited liability company, agree that he or she or it
will not carry on a similar business within a specified county or
counties, city or cities, or a part thereof, where the limited
liability company business has been transacted, so long as any other
member of the limited liability company, or any person deriving title
to the business or its goodwill from any such other member of the
limited liability company, carries on a like business therein.



16603.  Every person who, as a condition to a sale or consignment of
any magazine, book, or other publication requires that the purchaser
or consignee purchase or receive for sale any horror comic book, is
guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county
jail not exceeding six months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand
dollars ($1,000), or by both.
   This section is not intended to prohibit an agreement requiring a
person to purchase or accept on consignment a minimum number of
copies of a single edition or issue of a magazine or of a particular
book or other particular publication.
   As used in this section "person" includes a corporation,
partnership, or other association.
   As used in this section "horror comic book" means any book or
booklet in which an account of the commission or attempted commission
of the crime of arson, assault with caustic chemicals, assault with
a deadly weapon, burglary, kidnapping, mayhem, murder, rape, robbery,
theft, or voluntary manslaughter is set forth by means of a series
of five or more drawings or photographs in sequence, which are
accompanied by either narrative writing or words represented as
spoken by a pictured character, whether such narrative words appear
in balloons, captions or on or immediately adjacent to the photograph
or drawing.


16604.  Every person who, as a condition to a sale or consignment of
any magazine, book, or other publication, requires that the
purchaser or consignee purchase or receive for sale any other
magazine, book, or other publication is guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six
months, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by
both such imprisonment and such fine.
   This section is not intended to prohibit an agreement requiring a
person to purchase or accept on consignment a minimum number of
copies of a single edition or issue of a magazine or of a particular
book or other particular publication.
   As used in this section, "person" includes a corporation,
partnership, or other association.
   This section does not apply with respect to any contract relating
exclusively to the sale or consignment of any newspaper of general
circulation as defined by Section 6000 of the Government Code.




16605.  Every person engaged in the business of distribution of
books, magazines or publications of any kind to retail dealers shall
remove from the possession of a retail dealer, within 10 days after
notification by the dealer, any material which he delivered to the
dealer which the dealer did not specifically request, if such dealer
notifies such person that he does not want the material within 48
hours of receipt of the material.
   Any person who refuses to transact business with a dealer because
of any action taken by the dealer under this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
   As used in this section "person" includes a corporation,
partnership or other association.



16606.  The customer list, including the names, addresses, and
identity of customers, of a telephone answering service shall
constitute a trade secret and confidential information of, and shall
belong to, the owner of the telephone answering service.




16607.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the customer
list, including the names, addresses and identity of all employer
customers who have listed job orders with an employment agency within
a period of 180 days prior to the separation of an employee from the
agency and including the names, addresses and identity of all
applicant customers of the employment agency, shall constitute a
trade secret and confidential information of, and shall belong to,
the employment agency.
   (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a), no
liability shall attach to, and no cause of action shall arise from,
the use of a customer list of an employment agency by a former
employee who enters into business as an employment agency more than
one year immediately following termination of his employment.