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 #:
000284
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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2734 Morris A. Choynski, Direct Examination. we could go to the different producers, and find out what they were going to sell, and then we could go to our exchange and make an arrangement to try to get this film, and they never would promise to give it to us. That is, we would not know before the final day whether we could have the film or not. Q. Did this condition continue up to the time the General Film Company began to operate the American Film Service Exchange? A. Well, it got to be worse than that. We would go to the producers. Now, I am one of the oldest exhibitors, and maybe go to the producers myself. When the American Branch was doing business, and they were a buying exchange, we could not then certainly say when we would ever get a show even after it was booked to us. Q. Well, just prior to the time when the General Film Company began to operate in this field, had the conditions improved any with respect to the service of the American Film Exchange? A. Why, the condition got steadily worse. Q. After the General Film Company began to do business and to operate the American Film Service Exchange, did you find any improvement? A. I found a decided improvement. Q. In what respect? A. I found I could go to the General Film Company, and I did. I booked my show from the time the General Film Company started until I sold my houses two years ago, and I never had to do any rebooking, and they never failed to give me what they agreed. Q. Were you able to advertise your program? A. I was. Q. Were you able to produce your programs on the day set out? A. With one exception. And then they had a reasonable excuse to give me. It was only once that I was held up on my show. Q. During the years you have been an exhibitor of motion pictures, have you been conversant with the prices of service to exhibitors? A. Yes, I believe I have. Q. How do the prices that you are now paying compare with the prices that yon paid in 1909 and 1910? A. Actual money, why a man would seemingly give more, but rav price, I always paid the same. I think that I was getting film at fifty per cent, cheaper than I did under the old conditions. Q. That is, you think that you are getting it at fifty