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 #:
00089
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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H. N. Marvin, Direct Examination. 1315 approximately one and one-eighth (1%) inch, upon condition that they shall not be used in exhibiting or projecting machines containing the inventions or some of them of said Letters Patent Nos. 578,185, 580,719, 586,953, 588,916, 673,329, 673,992, 707,931, 722,382, 711,251, 770,937, 771,280, 785,205, and 785,237, and not licensed by the Licensor, and to sell or lease positive motion pictures embodying the invention of said reissued Letters Patent No. 12,192, on film of a width approximately one and one-eighth (lVs) inch or less in the "lease territory aforesaid'' and on film of any width in or for use in said insular possessions and Alaska and foreign countries, hereinafter referred to as "said export territory;'' shipments thereto and sales and leases therefor being hereinafter referred to as "for export." The license hereby granted is personal to the Licensee and does not include the right to dispose of, in the "territory aforesaid," and cameras embodying any invention covered by said reissued Letters Patent No. 13,329 and Letters Patent No. 629,063; and, in the event of the Licensee's permanent discontinuance of business or retirement therefrom for a period of six consecutive months, the license hereby granted shall be immediately terminated. 8. The Licensor, for itself, its successors, assigns and legal representatives, hereby releases, acquits and discharges the Licensee from any and all claims, demands and liability for profits and damages, because of any infringement by the Licensee of any or all of the aforesaid United States Letters Patent Nos. 578,185, 580,719, 586,953, 588,916, 629,063, 673,329, 673,992, 707,931, 722,382, 711,251, 770,937, 771,280, 785,205 and 785,237, and reissued Letters Patent Nos. 13,329 and 12,192, or use by the Licensee of the inventions, or any of them, covered by said Letters Patent or either of them prior to the date hereof. 9. The Licensee hereby recognizes and admits the validity of said reissued Letters Patent No. 13,329, and of the validity of said reissued Letters Patent No. 12,192 and Letters Patent Nos. 578,185, 580,719, 586,953, 588,916, 629,063, 673,329, 673,992, 707,931, 722,382, 711,251, 770,937, 771,280, 785,205, and 785,237, and agrees not to contest or question the same during the continuance of this agreement.