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 #:
000257
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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Frank Cook, Direct Examination. '2101 jects? A. That seems the special aim of the licensed manufacturers. Q. Do they call your attention to subjects which they consider of special merit and urge upon you the desirability of insisting that you get them of your exchange? A. Very liberally with literature, yes, sir. Q. What projecting machines do you use in your houses? A. The Kinedrome. Q. The Kinedrome? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you use that exclusively? A. Yes, sir, we are supplanting those as fast as they wear out with the Simplex. Q. You mean as fast as you can with the Simplex? A. As fast as they give out. Q. What did you use prior to using this machine? A. Powers and Edisons. Q. Do you have any interest in vaudeville amusement? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you have theatres which have vaudeville acts? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you book your vaudeville acts in advance? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you in the theatres devoted exclusively to motion pictures book your programs in advance? A. Yes, sir. Q. The same as you do in your vaudeville house? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you use the same care and the same discretion as far as you can in booking that class of business? A. I can book the two vaudeville houses in an hour and a half and it takes me six hours to book my picture theatres. Q. Is that because you are so careful in selecting your programs? A. Yes, sir. Q. Or because of physical difficulties? A. No, sir, because I am careful and discreet. Q. In what way do you show care and discretion in selecting them? A. For two hours between Milwaukee and Chicago I make the train my office, and I read fifty-two stories, — if the releases are fifty or fifty-one, I read those stories, and when I walk into the Wabash Branch on 1719 I have those stories in my head. This may be peculiar, and I am peculiar about these things. Q. Well, that is all right. A. I walk into the Wabash Branch with these stories and open my release sheet, and the first thing I do is to ^t criticisms from friends who