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 #:
00091
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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2 Petitioner's Exhibit No. 258. 2541 Mr. KlNGSLBY: I object to the form of the question, as it calls for a conclusion manifestly beyond the competency and knowledge of the witness. The Witness : Presumably so, yes. Mr. Kingsley : I move to strike out the answer on the ground that it is a mere presumption of the witness. By Mr. Grosvexor: Q. In your opinion, that is a copy of the Film Service Association bulletin, which was issued by the Association,' relating to that suit, and the decree entered in that suit? Mr. Caldwell: Objected to as calling for the opinion of the witness. The Witness: As I have just stated, a bulletin bearing on this, I think, was issued, and this, no doubt, is a copy of it, although I could not positively identify it, without seeing the original bulletin. 3 The paper offered is received in evidence and is marked ''Petitioner's Exhibit No. 258,'' and the same is as follows : Petitioners Exhibit No. 258. FILM ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES VICTORY IN EDISON LITIGATION. New York, April 27. — The Film Service Association has issued a bulletin to the moving picture trade announcing 4 the service of papers in the suit of the Edison Manufacturing Company against Christ Kolandson and the issuance of a decree in the United Circuit Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, favorable to the plaintiff corporation, in this particular action. The bulletin which announces the determination of the Edison Company to press all suits filed against certain defendants for alleged infringements of patents, reads as follows :