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 #:
000256
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:
May 23, 2024
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234 Harry N. Marvin, Direct Examination. Petitioner's Exhibit No. 65. ARMAT MOTION PICTURE COMPANY Owners of Patents Covering all Projecting Machines in use in this Country, and also of the business of the American Kinetoscope Co., and the N. Y. Photo-Projecting Company, American Patents, 586,953, 673,992, 578,185, 580,749, 588,916, 627,930, and Foreign Patents. Cable Address: ARMAT, Washington. Hutchins Building A. B. C. and Lieber Code Used. 'Phone : Main 92. Washington, D. C. July 30th, 1908. Mr. H. N. Marvin, 11 East 14th St., New York, N. Y. Dear Mr. Marvin : I am glad to know that things are shaping up a bit and am ready to come over almost any day, in fact was planning to take a trip through New York City about the middle of next week. Yours very truly, (Signed) Thos. Armat, Q. At the time this letter was written, negotiations had been commenced with a view to terminating the warfare between the Biograph and Edison factions? A. Yes. Q. This letter which I next show you, being dated October 5th, 1908, and addressed to Thos. Armat, is a copy of a letter written by you to him on the date indicated (handing paper to witness)? A. (Witness examining paper.) I presume that it is. Mr. Grosvrnor: I offer it in evidence. Paper marked Petitioner's Exhibit No. 66, and is as follows :