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 (1913)

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:
1913
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 1
Leaf #:
00032
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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10 HIarry N. Marvin, Direct Examination. between those Edison licensees and the interests represented by your company, the Biograph Company, and George Kleine? A. Those manufacturers who had taken licenses from the Edison Company and those manufacturers and importers who had not taken licenses competed vigorously for business. Q. And these two interests were known as two separate factions in the trade, were they not — two camps, on one hand, your company, and George Kleine, and on the other side, the Edison licensees? A. I think they were sometimes so distinguished. Q. Now, in the latter part of 1908, there was formed the Motion Picture Patents Company. Did you take any part in the formation of that company? A. Yes. Q. As a result of the formation of that company, the two camps, so-called, were brought together — is that not a fair statement? I mean by that by arrangements, by transferring all patents to the Patents Company, and then by the issuing of licenses — all members of those two factions took out licenses from the Patents Company? Is my question clear, if it is not, I will get at it in another way? A. Of course when some of the manufacturers and importers secured licenses under the patents of a similar character to those that were at that time secured by the particular Edison so-called licensees it obliterated the distinction which had formerly existed between those various manufacturers and importers. Q. When did you have your first conference or meeting, and with whom was it, in the effort to form the patents company, or in order to bring about a cessation of this warfare between the two camps? A. According to my recollection of the first interview bearing on any settlement of the existing litigation, — turmoil, was in an interview with either Charles Pathe or Gaumont; I had interviews with each of these men, and at this moment, I do not recall which interview preceded the other. Q. It was in the Summer of 1908? A. It was in the Summer of 1908, and I think prior to the 15th of July. Q. And then thereafter there was a series of conversations or conferences between you and the other representatives of the Biograph Company with the representatives of the Edison licensees? A. I did not mean to be understood as saying that these interviews were with rep