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 000258 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 #:
000258
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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236 Harry N. Marvin, Direct Examination. Petitioner's Exhibit No. 67. Oct. 24, 1908. MR. FRANK L. DYER, Legal Department, Edison Mfg. Co., Orange, N. J. Dear Sir: I hand you herewith a suggestion from Mr. Kleine for a modification in his contract and we would be glad to have you use your discretion as to introducing this modification. Yours very truly, HNM/REL. Enc— 1 By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. It states: "I hand you herewith a suggestion from Mr. Kleine for a modification in his contract and we would be glad to have you use your discretion as to introducing this modification. " Do you recall what that modification related to? A. I do not. Q. The matter you were considering and referring to in this letter was the license agreement which Kleine subsequently took out from the Patents Company? A. I think it was. Q. I show you letter dated Oct. 30th, on the letter head of the Kleine Optical Company, signed "Kleine Optical Company, per G. K.," and also copy of a letter dated Nov. 2nd, 1908, addressed to Mr. George Kleine (handing papers to witness). Are those papers, one of them a letter received by yon from the Kleine Optical Company, ami the other, your reply? A. Yes, I believe they are. Mr. Grosvenor: I offer them in evidence. Papers marked Petitioner's Exhibits Nos. 68 and 69, and are as follows :