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 #:
000268
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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2718 W. Allen Kenney, Direct Examination Q. In what respect did it aid the Casino Amusement Company? A. Well, we had the advantage of putting on reels ahead of the people who were running a picture show just beyond us, and if we found out that they were going to put on a certain picture on one day we would put it on ahead of them. Q. Mr. Crawford had an interest in the Casino Amusement Company? A. Yes, sir, he owned fifty-one per cent, of it. Q. Was the exchange profitable or unprofitable? A. It lost about fourteen thousand dollars. Q. What happened to the exchange? A. It went out of existence, that part of it. This was only a branch, and it Avas just consolidated with the main office in Saint Louis. Q. WThere was this branch located, did you say? A. Louisville, on Fourth Street, between Green and Jefferson Streets, over the Casino Theatre. Q. Are your houses solicited from time to time by representatives of the independent exchanges? A. Oh, yes, there is hardly a week passes but what some independent exchange solicits the business. Q. Do you find that they offer inducements in the way of program or price? A. No, I do not. The prices are about the same. Q. Have you been familiar with the prices during the period that you have been interested in the motion picture houses? A. I have, as I have paid all the bills. Q. How do the prices you are now paying compare with the prices you paid in 1909 and 1910? A. I will answer that by saying that in 1909 and 1910 we were getting six reels a week, that is three reels to a change, changing twice a week. We are now getting fifteen reels with five changes a week, three reels to a change, and we are paying the same price that we paid for the six reels. Q. Do you find that the licensed producers of motion pictures are competing with one another with respect to obtaining the good-will and confidence of the exhibitors by sending them circulars, urging upon them the desirability of calling upon their exchanges for certain motion pictures? A. Well, all the manufacturers send out circulars to their patrons in the shape of pamphlets giving the story of the picture and the advantage of getting that picture in your house.