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 #:
000251
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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John F. Hmnnegan, Cross Examination. 270J to November, 1010, acquired a large number of rental exchanges in the country? A. Yes, previous to that time, only very previous. Not for any great length of time before that did I know it. Q. That is, the General Film Company went into business in about April or May, 1010? A. Yes — I don't know. 1 say yes, but I don't know. Q. Well, in any event, you know that they had been in business a few months prior to your selling out to them? A. Yes, probably. Q. And that in those few months they had acquired quite a large number of exchanges? A. No, I did not know that they had acquired any except the Pittsburgh Calcium Light, and I did not know that of a fact. I surmised so. Q. You read about it? A. I read about it or heard of it. Q. You said on direct examination you went to New York to see Mr. Kennedy. Did Mr. Kennedy write you to come, or did somebody else write you to come, or did you go voluntarily? A. I went voluntarily. Q. Did you have an appointment before you went? A. No, sir; I went to the General Film Company office, ami met Mr. Waters there, the manager, and told him I wanted to see Mr. Kennedy, and I think it was the next day before the appointment was made. Whereupon, at 4:15 P. M., January 6, 1011, adjournment taken until Wednesday, January 7, 1014, 11 A. M., at Hotel Statler, Cleveland, Ohio.