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 #:
000256
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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2706 Frank Cook, Direct Examination. Q. In the way of special subjects or otherwise? A. Well, pardon me. Would you consider the Famous Players a licensed or unlicensed — Q. That is unlicensed? A. We show the Famous Players. At the same time they are sanctioned, I think, are they not? Q. Mr. Cook, during the period you have been in the motion picture business have you been familiar with the prices charged to exhibitors by exchanges, with the kinds of programs the exhibitors have used, and with the changes in the requirements of the business which have occurred from time to time as the public interest has increased in motion pictures? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are the prices which you are now paying for your programs as large or larger than the prices you paid for a program in 1909 and 1910? A. The prices are a little higher graduated according to the increasing quality. Q. How did the prices paid in 1909 and early in 1910 compare with the prices paid now with respect to quantity, and by that I mean the number of films and the release dates? A. We always had a limit to our program. Q. Which theatre have you operated the longest in Milwaukee? A. Well, the Theatorium was the original theatre. Q. What particular program did you use in the Theatorium in 1909 and 1910? A. Three reels. Q. What program are you using in the Theatorium now? A. Four reels. Q. What price did you pay for the program you were using in the Theatorium in 1909 and 1910; the three-reel program? A. The increased price is about the same pro rata per reel as we were paying then. Q. Well, do you know the sum, the aggregate sum? A. We were paying seventy dollars then and I think we are paying ninety dollars now. I don't think I know. Q. So that a three-reel program in 1909 and 1910 cost you seventy dollars? A. Yes, sir. Q. And a four-reel program in 1911 costs you ninety dollars? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you observed as the manager of motion picture houses whether or not the licensed producers of motion pictures are competing among themselves with respect to obtaining the good will of the exhibitors in the way of better sub