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 3
Leaf #:
00024
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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1250 H. N. Marvin, Direct Examination vance in the motion picture dramatic art since 1908. The character of the artists employed has advanced immensely. At that time a very few, if any, actors or actresses of note were engaged in the motion picture dramas, while at the present time, many of the most noted artists of the world devote a portion, or all of their time, to the motion picture art. The facilities for these dramatic productions have been enormously advanced. Immense sums have been expended in the erection of studios suitable for the production of these dramas, which in many instances have been equipped with enormous and costly electric lighting plants, for artificial illumination, so that these dramas may be produced at any time of day or night, independently of the weather. Many concerns engaged in this art have studios maintained in different parts of the country, thousands of miles apart. They maintain quite a large number of distinct, separate troupes of artists, several companies that are constantly engaged in the production of these dramas, and very considerable sums are now expended for scenarios, or books that are dramatizations of stories, whereas, in 1908, no considerable sums were usually paid for these scenarios. Now, many of the most popular authors of the day are engaged at a very large expense to produce these scenarios. In the matter of places of exhibition, very costly theatres are now being erected and devoted exclusively to the motion picture drama, whereas, in 1908, these exhibitions were mainly confined to small "store shows,'' as they were then called, which were places fitted up in rooms, originally occupied for commercial stores. These rooms would be equipped with seats or benches, and a screen at one end, and darkened, and would hold a few hundred people — whereas, now, some of the most costly and beautiful theatres in the country are devoted entirely to motion picture exhibitions. Prices of admission have been gradually advanced. Whereas, in 1908, the popular common price of admission to the store shows was a nickel, now the high class theatres, that are finely equipped, and providing exceptionally fine motion picture shows, are able to get prices as high as one dollar and a dollar and a half. Q. Will you tell us, Mr. Marvin, what is meant by a "scenario/' by the producers of motion pictures? A. A