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 000362 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 #:
000362
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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340 William Pelzer, Direct Examination. right? A. We hope that they will be good, and stay good; I have known them to change at least half a dozen times. Q. I wish you would prepare that list, Mr. Pelzer, start your clerks upon it. A. I will start to work on it, and produce it as quickly as possible. Is it one list, or two separate lists, that you want, Mr. Grosvenor? Q. There are two lists that I want, but I will ask you to begin the preparation of this list which I have last described. A. Yes, sir. Q. I ask you to begin that list first. A. Yes, sir. Q. I wish you would also prepare a list of all theatres whose names have been printed and issued by you to the rental exchanges upon this blank form (Exhibit No. 88), which directs rental exchanges to cancel service, the notice giving no reason for such direction. A. Well, I understood that was the list you asked for previous to this one, on this other card, am I correct? Q. Suppose, for the present, you confine yourself to these two lists I have last described? A. That (indicating) and this (indicating) you mean? Q. "That" and "this," Mr. Pelzer, does not mean anything on the record, but in order to make it clear again, I will say that the two lists that I am asking you to begin to prepare at once, are, first, a list of all theatres whose licenses have been cancelled for the reasons stated in the card which is Exhibit 89, that is, for using what you call "unlicensed film," and the second list which I ask you to begin preparing now is a list of theatres whose names have appeared upon this blank form "Exhibit 88." A. Yes. will you let me look at that form? Q. Yes, which states no reason for the cancellation » A. Yes, sir. Q. Then, I wish you would also prepare a list giving the names of all owners of theatres or exhibitors or persons desiring to enter upon the exhibiting business whom you have refused to grant licenses to. Do you understand the question? A. I understand the question, but I am trying to figure out whether it is possible to make such a list. Q. Then, I wish you would prepare a list of all exchanges and of all theatres, the list giving the names of the exchanges and theatres separately, which theatres and exchanges have been fined for some cause or other by the Patents Company and also showing the amounts of fines