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

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
Author:
Motion Picture Patents Company
Publisher:
New York, Appeal Printing Co.
Volume:
5
Language:
eng
Subjects:
Motion Picture Patents Company, Antitrust, Motion Pictures
Collection:
Government and Law Collection, Early Cinema
Format:
Periodicals
Source:
Print
Contributor:
Museum of Modern Art Library
Sponsor:
Domitor
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 as “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, <b>Testimony of Witnesses for the Defendants</b> Fred C. Aiken Charles O. Baumann E. Boehringer Ora L. Braley William C. Brandon Floyd Brown Thomas A. Brown Morris A. Choynski James B. Clark John Collier Frank Cook Glenn A. Cross Joseph M. Cummings Joseph R. Denniston John G. Evans Charles A. Feinler N. H. Gibbons Howell Graham Walter W. R. Greene Otto Haas, Otto P. Hall John F. Hennegan James W. Hunter C. R. Jones Samuel Katz Frank M. Kenney W. Allen Kenney Leland B. Kent John Daniel Kessler Siegmund Lubin Anna S. Matthews Max Milder Joseph Mogler Houston N. Morgan Samuel E. Morris William T. Murray H. M. Newsome Warren R. Palmer Robert G. Peltier John Penman, Jr. Adolph Powell J. Wesley Rosenquest Isaac H. Ruben Harry W. Scherer Edwin M. Simons Henry R. Slocum Edward M. Smith George K. Spoor Joseph L. Stiebel Cornelius D. Struble Horace M. Thomas Jacob Warner Percival L. Waters Theodore W. Williams Charles L. Worthington <b>Petitioner's Exhibits Defendants' Exhibits</b>