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 #:
000216
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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20G6 Joseph R. Denniston, Direct Examination. the number of reels? A. Yes, sir. I am using just four times the reels now that I did then. Q. Do you find that the licensed producers of motion pictures are competing with one another in attempting to obtain the favor of the exhibitor? A. It appears to me that the competition is very keen. We are continually circularized and solicited through the mails to demand different brands of film, and especially films that the companies think are a little above the average. I have also had men, especially from the Edison office, call on me for an expression as to what kind of film the exhibitors wanted, so that they could sort of feel the pulse of the exhibitor. Q. What projecting machines have you used in your theatres? A. Edison and Powers. Q. Did you find it necessary when you owned both the Family and AmuseYou Theatres in Paulding, Ohio, to run unlicensed service in the AmuseYou Theatre? A. Well, of course, at that time neither the licensed or independent had reels enough to supply both houses without a conflict, or at least later on when we began running 12 reels on eacli side of the street — at that time Mr. Kent was serving us in one house, and he was only buying 14 reels, and we were using 12, and, of course, the independents did not have any more. Q. What competition do you have in Monroe? A. We have the Opera House, runs pictures Saturdays and Sundays. Then, there are two other theatres that run every night. Q. What are the two other theatres, licensed or unlicensed? A. They are all independent. Q. Does the Opera House run licensed or unlicensed pictures? A. They run the unlicensed. Independent. Q. So that the other three places which show pictures in Monroe are all unlicensed or independent? A. They are. Q. Yours is the only licensed house there? A. Yes. Q. What is the seating capacity of the Opera House? A. Seven hundred. Q. What is the seating capacity of the other two houses? A. One of them has a seating capacity of 000 and one of them has a seating capacity of 200.