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 #:
00082
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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60 Bulletins to Rental Exchanges. Petitioner's Exhibit No. 15. Exchange Bulletin — No. 1. MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY 80 Fifth Avenue New York City February 26, 1909. CANCELLATION NOTICES. We advised all of the licensed exchanges by wire to-day as follows: "On and after March 1st to reduce or cancel a standing order fourteen days' notice must be given. " This action of the manufacturers, restoring the conditions as to the notice which must be given to cancel or reduce an order, was taken at a meeting held yesterday at the offices of the Patents Company. EXCHANGE LICENSES TO BE CANCELLED. The Patents Company to-day notified the following Exchanges that on and after March 15, 1909, the license agreement they had entered into with this Company would be terminated : Philadelphia Film Exchange, 1229 N. 7th St., Philadelphia, Pa. Win. H. Swanson & Co., 160 Lake St., Chicago, 111. Wm. H. Swanson & Co., of Omaha, 405 Karbach Block, Omaha, Neb. Wm. II. Swanson & Co., 200 N. 7th St., St. Louis, Mo. EXCHANGE CONTRACT WITH EXHIBITORS. All contracts made by Exchanges with exhibitors must