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 #:
000425
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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Agreement, Patents & Gaumont Cos. 403 manufactured by the said Societe des Etablissements Gaumont, by reason of any fault or act of the said Societe (l<is Etablissements Gaumont, or whenever the said Societe des Etablissements Gaumont shall cease to own or control more than fifty per cent (50%) of the capital stock of the Licensee, the license hereby granted shall be immediately terminated. 2. The Licensor, for itself, its successors, assigns, and legal representatives, hereby releases, acquits and discharges the Licensee from any and all claims, demands and liabilities for profits and damages, because of any infringement by the Licensee of any or all of the aforesaid United States Letters Patent Nos. 578,185; 580,749; 580,953; 588,910; 029,003; 073,329; 073,992; 707,934; 722,382; 744,251; 770,937; 771,280; 785,205 and 785,237, and reissued Letters Patent Nos. 12,037 and 12,192, or use by the Licensee of the inventions, or any of them, covered by said Letters Patent or either of them prior to the date hereof. 3. The Licensee hereby rocognizes and admits the validity of said reissued Letters Patent No. 12,037, so far as the first three claims thereof are concerned and the validity of said reissued Letters Patent No. 12,192, and Letters Patent Nos. 578,185; 580,749; 580,953; 588,910; 029,003; 073,329; 073,992; 707,934; 722,382; 744,251; 770,937; 771,280; 785,205 and 785,237, and the Licensee agrees not to contest or question the same during the continuance of this agreement. (3a). The Licensee covenants and agrees that it will, during the continuance of this agreement, pay to the Licensor, royalties on all positive and negative "talking motion pictures'' imported by it at the same rates provided for in Para graph 4 hereof for royalties on "Licensed Film." The Licensee further covenants and agrees that it will give to the Licensor, between the first and fifteenth days of each month, a statement in writing, sworn to by an oificer of the Licensee, if the Licensor should so elect, showing the total number of running feet of "talking motion pictures'1 so im ported by it during the preceding month, beginning with March, 1909, and at the same time pay royalties thereon at the rate of one-half (%) cent per running foot on all "talking motion pictures" so Imported by it during that month.