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 #:
00083
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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Petitioner's Exhibit No. 250. 2533 Association, and manager of the Independent Film Exchange, Chicago, said: "The filing of snits by the Edison Manufacturing Co. will not secure the results they hope for. We will stand firm, and have implicit faith in our legal fortifications. The Independent flag will continue to fly and will not be hauled down at a few pyrotechnic displays or bursts of oratory. We do not think the Edison Manufacturing Co. has a valid claim, and must be shown a court decision in its favor before we take alarm. "In fact, both myself and Mr. W. R. Cozart, who have promoted the Protective Association, and are using Independent films, feel that we have been slighted by not being sued by Edison. We cannot understand why they single out Independent exhibitors here and there, and overlook us. We regard the matter as a huge joke, and would like to be active participants instead of onlookers, and as the last laugh will be on Edison we would like an incentive to join in the mirth." BERST TALKS OF TRIP. Tell of Visit to Chicago and Work Accomplished. J. A. Berst, American manager for Pathe Freres, after a visit of several days in Chicago, returned to New York last week. While in Chicago Mr. Berst inaugurated an innovation in the moving picture industry by advertising in the daily papers. THE SHOW WORLD is enabled to present an exclusive statement regarding Mr. Berst's visit to Chicago. He says : "I returned from Chicago last week and am satisfied with the conditions of our trade in the middle west. Everything seems to improve and the exchanges are beginning to feel the advantages of the Association. A few, it is true, still complain, but not as they did before the last convention, and the majority are kicking more against their competitors, who are not living up to the rules of the Association, than anything else. "I also found that the nickelodions are giving better performances and that fewer worn-out pictures are shown ; 3