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 #:
000278
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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2728 Thomas A. Brown, Cross Examination. * it is understood that I get the Edison and Essanay both, each week. Mr. Grosvenor: Now, witness, there isn't any way I want you to answer the question. I want you to answer to the truth. Whether your answer be one way or the other makes no difference to me. The Witness: Certainly. Mr. Grosvenor: Now, can you answer that question? Kead it to him again. I have no particular way I want you to answer it. The Examiner repeats the question to the witness, as follows: "Q. Well, no distinction is made on the price you pay per week by reason of whether you have so many reels of Edison, or so many reels of Essanay?" o The Witness : I don't believe I can answer that question. By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Let me ask you this question. Is there any competition in price between the different manufacturers? A. I don't know. Q. You know there is competition as to quality? A. Yes, sir. Q. Why can't you answer whether or not there is competition as to price? A. For the reason that my service is furnished me by my film exchange, and it is understood 4 with my manager at Omaha that I am to receive the certain manufacturers on certain days every week, and the quality of course is understood. A picture man understands that a two-reel Vitagraph is certainly worth at least double the amount to him that a foreign two-reel feature would be worth, and he would be ready and willing to pay double the amount for it, because he can take in double the amount at the box office. Q. Is there any competition between the manufacturers as to price?