The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1911)

Edison Phonograph Monthly, Mar. ,1911 11 Equivalent of United States Supreme Court Decision in Price Cutting Case In last month's issue we reprinted an injunction granted in a recent case by an Australian Court upholding the system under which Edison Phonographs and Records are sold throughout the world. This month we have something even better to report — the decision by the British Privy Council of the case of NATIONAL PHONOGRAPH CO. OF AUSTRALIA, LTD., vs. MENCK in favor of the principles upon which the world-wide sale of Edison Phonographs and Records is based. This is the first time that a case involving these principles has been decided by a Court of ultimate last resort. In this country decisions of the Circuit Courts or of the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals have been uniformly in favor of the basic principles upon which the selling sys-tem is founded and the price cutters and other defendants, who have been defeated in these courts, have never had sufficient confidence in their position to carry the case to the Supreme Court of the United States. That the Australian case now decided by the Privy Council was taken up to and decided by that tribunal, which is the court of last resort for England and the British Colonies and which corresponds precisely to the Supreme Court of this country, was due to the fact that both the Australian Court to which the case was originally presented and the High Court of Australia, to which it went from there, decided against the National Phonograph Co. of Australia and in favor of the defendant, Menck, though this decision was in defendant's favor in the High Court of Australia by the narrow margin of a vote of three to two, the case being heard by a court consisting of five judges. By this decision the principles supporting the system under which Edison Phonographs and Records are sold is firmly established, not only for Australia, but also for all the British possessions. The decision will undoubtedly have great weight with the Supreme Court of the United States, should that tribunal be called upon to decide the same or similar issues. The views of the Law Lords who sat on the Privy Council may be clearly understood from the following extracts of the opinion, which is so lengthy that we cannot reprint it as a whole: — "The general doctrine of absolute freedom of disposal of chattels of an ordinary kind is, in the case of patented chattels, subject to the restriction that the person purchasing them, and in the knowledge of the conditions attached by the patentee, which knowledge is clearly brought home to himself at the time of sale, shall be bound by that knowledge and accept the situation of ownership subject to the limitations. These limitations are merely the respect paid and the effect given to those conditions of transfer of the patented article which the law, laid down by Statute, gave the original patentee a power to impose." And after reviewing the earlier cases, the decision continues : — "In their Lordships' opinion, it is thus demonstrated by a clear course of authority, first, that it is open to licensee, by virtue of his statutory monopoly, to make a sale sub modo, or accompanied by restrictive conditions which would not apply in the case of ordinary chattels; secondly, that the imposition of these conditions in the case of a sale is not presumed, but, on the contrary, a sale having occurred, the presumption is that the full right of ownership was meant to be vested in the purchaser; while thirdly, the owner's rights in a patented chattel will be limited if there is brought home to him the knowledge of conditions imposed, by the patentee or those representing the patentee, upon him at the time of sale." Lost or Stolen Machines The following Edison Phonographs have been reported by the Trade as lost or stolen. Jobbers and Dealers are requested to keep on the lookout for these machines and to promptly communicate to our Agreement Department at Orange, N. J., any clue received as to their whereabouts, in order that steps may be taken at once to restore them to their rightful owners: TRIUMPH— 71,482. GEM— 308.489C-269.271 . STANDARD— 700.583C-713.078-715.421. HOME-393.011D-391, 114-306,1 19-375,589-363,700D-3 12,2 15-362. 751. Erratum Attention is called to two errors appearing in Sales Department Bulletin No. 60, to Canadian Dealers, on the New Record Exchange Plan. In paragraph 1, the allowance for Amberol Records should read 39c, and the allowance for Amberol Grand Opera $1.17. In the original bulletin these figures are erroneously given as 34c and $1.19 respectively. WANTED— Dealers in all cities not now represented to handle the Edison Business Phonograph. The demand for this up-to-date device for handling business correspondence is rapidly growing and Dealers who take on this line now will not only profit from the start but will have a franchise that will be more and more valuable as time passes. Write for particulars to Edison Business Phonograph Co., Orange, N. J.