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 000356 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 #:
000356
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
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

331 William Pblzer, Direct Examination. this statement marked "D" under the heading "As distributed; net profits, 1910, f 134,863.11." Q. That refers to the common and preferred? A. No, it refers to the amounts paid to the manufacturers of the remaining undivided profits. Q. Mr. Pelzer, I see that you have not got this matter straight yet. Let me explain again what I want. That statement "C" gives the dates and the amounts of dividends paid on certain dates. I want the same figures, giving the dates and the amounts paid in cash, which you stated was the manner of payment, although that resolution refers to notes — in the same way, giving in detail, and not in lump sums, but in detail for the dates, giving the separate years? A. I understand that, Mr. Grosvenor. Q. And I want also the amounts paid separately to the different manufacturers. A. I understand what you want, but I wanted to make it clear that it applied to the statement that has been marked "D." Q. Now, this statement marked "D," contains net earnings June 6, 1910, to December 31, 1910, $160,616.15. The next figure is, net earnings, year 1911, f 1, 118,226. The figure which you give as net earnings for the year 1911 is the same as the figure that you gave on the other statement as being the figure showing net profits of the General Film Company for the year 1911? A. They are intended to be the same figure. Q. They are so intended? A. Yes, sir. Q. And then you have not included among the net earnings for the year 1911, the amounts that you paid, or the General Film Company paid, on these deferred payments? A. No, sir, that money had been paid out, and was not there to be distributed in the shape of dividends. Q. Well, it was paid out of gross earnings, was it not? A. Yes, paid out of gross earnings. Q. Now, I wish you would produce a statement showing gross earnings for the year 1910, and 1911 and 1912? A. For those three years? Q. Yes. A. I doubt if I can give it to you for 1912, but 1 will bring it for 1910 and 1911. Q. Now, going on with this statement ("D"), you give again the figures showing your preferred dividends and common dividends for the years 1910 and 1911, and then show