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 #:
000243
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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Edwin M. Simons, Cross Examination. 2693 Q. Will you tell us how many reels you had then? A. I had six reels of pictures a week. Q. Six reels a week? A. Yes, sir, and I was paying thirty-five to forty dollars for those six reels per week, and at the present I am running twenty-four reels of pictures per week and my price of service is sixty dollars. Q. Are you solicited from time to time by representatives of the unlicensed exchanges? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they make you any inducements in the way of service or programs, and in the way of prices, to change? A. They all have their flattering offers, but I tried it on one or two occasions, and found they could not live up to it. Q. Do you run any unlicensed pictures in your house? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you find that the licensed producers of motion pictures are competing with one another with respect to obtaining the good will of the exhibitors? A. Their competition is very keen. Q. In what respect is it shown? A. Why, in the various trade journals they are advertising very extensively, and they are sending circulars through the mail to each individual business, or theatre, asking him for his business, or asking him to demand their program, or particular make of manufactured product, Q. What projecting machine do you use in your theatre? A. Powers. Q. Did you always use a Powers? A. I have used an Edison. Q. Those two machines embrace all that you have ever used? A. I used a Standard machine for a while. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor : Q. IIowT long have you been showing from time to time independent pictures in your theatre? A. Well, I have never shown them until, oh, for during the last six months I have si i own the independent pictures. Q. When did you last show an independent picture? A. A week ago last Friday. Q. Before this period beginning six months ago you showed only the licensed pictures in your theatre? A. Yee, sir, at that time.