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 (1914)

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:
1914
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 5
Leaf #:
00032
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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2482 Petitioner's Exhibit No. 253. The meeting was called to order by Mr. W. H. Swanson, of Chicago, who was unanimously elected president pro tern., and Mr. D. MacDonald, of New York, secretary, pro tern. The following letter from Mr. A. S. Kane, of the O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Company, St. Louis, Mo., and telegram from the Bailey Film Service, of Birmingham, Ala , express the sentiments of other absentees who sent proxies to represent them. St. Louis, Mo., November 14, 1907. Mr. Geo. Kleine : Dear Sir: We have the circular letter inviting a representative to attend the meeting to be held in Pittsburgh, Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17. We are heartily in favor of this movement and I should attend myself if it were at all possible. We are so busy with getting ready with our picture plant that we will take the liberty of asking you to represent us here, knowing that our ideas coincide pretty well on picture propositions. We are more than willing to work with the majority of the trade and what that majority decides upon will be agreeable to us. If there is an organization formed we wish to be counted in and will surely attend later gatherings. If something can be done to stop price cutting, throat cutting, duping, it will be to the advantage of everybody. Regretting our inability to have someone go direct from here at this time, and assuring you that anything that suits you will please us, Yours very truly, O. T. Crawford Film Exchange Co., O. T. Crawford Manufacturing Co. Per A. S. Kane. Birmingham, Ala., November 16, 1907. Mr. I. W. Ullmax, Ft. Pitt Hotel, Pittsburg, Pa. Not being able to attend convention of film manufacturers and importers, I will thank you to say for me that I