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)

Page scan 000122 from 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 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 #:
000122
Language:
English
Collection:
Government & Law and Early Cinema
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 12, 2024
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100 Bulletins to Exhibitors. with numerous others from exhibitors of moving pictures throughout the United States. We are rapidly getting our organization completed, and within a few days expect to move into our permanent quarters at number 80 Fifth Avenue, 16th floor. Our new offices and the experienced force assisting us will then be able to handle every matter pertaining to the moving picture business which may advance the interests of our licensed exhibitors. The chief purpose of the Patents Company, which is to promote the fullest co-operation between our licensees — manufacturer, exchange, exhibitor — will then be accomplished. Until we have a further opportunity to take up particular cases, the following general information will probably answer all questions in which you are at this time interested : We have licensed nine of the leading manufacturers of the world, who will hereafter put out their film under our patents, paying us royalties in recognition of them. We intend that the licensed films shall be distributed only by licensed exchanges and exhibited only by licensed theatres. The object of this is to put us in a position where we can regulate our business in the interest of all of our licensees and refuse licenses in any given locality where there is no public demand for additional distributors of licensed film or new theatres to show our film. It is for the protection of our patents and the exclusive use of the licensed service, which will be of the very highest class, that we require a nominal weekly royalty which the licensed theatre is to pay. We do not desire any Exhibitor to pay such royalty unless he is satisfied to become a Licensee of this Company and exhibit our film. We do not ask you to pay us a royalty of $2 a week, or any other royalty, if you should decide not to license your theatre. If you consider the licensed service desirable for your theatre, we would call your attention to the fact that we do not ask you to sign any contract, agreement or other paper. You may send in the name and address of your theatre with a license fee of $10 in return for which, if we decide to issue a license, we will send a license certificate which you may display in your theatre. The license fee referred to would cover a theatre up to March 8, 1909, and this has been fixed as the uniform license