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 #:
000210
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:
May 23, 2024
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188 List of Cancelled Exchanges. Q. Did these nine licensed manufacturers all take stock in the General Film Company? A. I think they did. I have no general knowledge on that point. Thereupon, at 12:30 o'clock P. M., on this January the 16th, 1913, the hearing was adjourned until 2:30 o'clock P. M., January 16, 1913. New York City, January 16, 1913. The hearing was resumed pursuant to adjournment at 2:30 o'clock P. M. Appearances the same as at the morning session. Thereupon HARRY N. MARVIN resumed the stand for further examination. Direct examination (continued) : Mr. Grosvenor: I offer in evidence at this time a statement produced by counsel for the defendants at the request of counsel for the Government, showing the exchanges whose licenses had been cancelled or terminated by the Motion Picture Patents Company up to January, 1912, and giving the dates of such cancellation or termination. I will ask to have that copied in the record. Marked Petitioner's Exhibit No. 61, and is as follows: Petitioner's Exhibit No. 61. EXCHANGES WHOSE LICENSES RAVE BEEN CANCELLED OE TERMINATED BY THE MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY. Date cancelled or terName of Exchange Address minated Philadelphia Film Exchange, Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. 27, 1909.