In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants (1913)

Record Details:

Title:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants
Date:
1913
Publisher:
New York, Appeal Printing Co.
Volume:
In the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States of America, petitioner, vs. Motion Picture Patents Company, et al., defendants : record volume 2
Leaf #:
000620
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Government & Law
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
The Museum of Modern Art Library, New York
Sponsor:
Media History Digital Library
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
These seven volumes contain the testimonies and supporting documents from the U.S. District Court's antitrust lawsuit against the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC). Formed in 1908, the MPPC (sometimes referred to asœ"the Edison Trust" or just "the Trust") sought to control the American film industry through pooling patents and demanding that producers and exhibitors acquire licenses to those patents. Independent producers and exhibitors, who refused to license the patents, argued that the MPPC was an unlawful monopoly. In 1912 and 1913, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania heard testimonies from both MPPC members, such as Siegmund Lubin, and "Independents" who later became Hollywood moguls, such as William Fox. Ultimately, in 1915, the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which found the MPPC in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and spelled the end for the already weakening MPPC. -- Eric Hoyt, 2012
Date Added:
September 21, 2023
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1238 J. C. Graham, Cross Examination. companies were absolutely ignored from that time up to the present. Q. From what manufacturers were the Western Film Exchange and the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange, obtaining films in the month that they were cancelled or, in the early part of 1910? A. The O. T. Crawford Film Exchange was receiving more film than the Western, for the reason that their rentals were higher, and they were able to carry a more complete program. The average purchases of the Western at that time were from twelve to fifteen reels a week, and the purchases of the O. T. Crawford Exchange ranged from eighteen to twenty-one reels a week, as I recall it now. Q. Were these companies buying from all the licensed manufacturers? A. These various reels were equally distributed amongst the different companies. Q. Please state where the customers of these exchanges were located? Were they all in St. Louis, or were they in other States? A. No, sir; not all in St. Louis. They were located in the territory tributary to St. Louis accessible on the basis of proper express shipments, which is the limit of any exchange. Q. Please name some of the States in which your exhibitors were located? A. The main percentage of our business was in Missouri and in Illinois, some business was drawn from western Tennessee and Kentucky and northern Arkansas, and possibly a few customers on the lower line of the State of Ohio. " Cross examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. In your conversation with Mr. Kennedy, did he give you the names of the two individuals whom he said he was trying to get out? A. Yes, sir. Q. What are the names of those two persons? A. Mr. H. E. Aitken and Mr. O. T. Crawford. Q. What position did they have in the respective companies? A. At that time, previous to the cancellation, Mr. Aitken was president of the Western. But I cannot state positively about Mr. Crawford. We had reorganized the offices at the time, other individuals and myself had purchased interests in the Crawford Exchange, and I forget whether he was vice-president or what office, but he had some office.