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 #:
000439
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 (Jos. 117 controlled by it except by and with the consent of the Licensor. The Licensee also covenants and agrees to refrain from supplying such "talking motion pictures" manufactured under this agreement to any exhibitor who uses such pictures in violation of the conditions set forth in paragraph 15, or for use with any exhibiting or projecting machine, the license for which under the aforesaid Letters Patent has been terminated and after the Licensee has been notified of such termination by the Licensor. The Licensee also covenants and agrees, on notice from the Licensor, to refrain from supplying such "talking motion pictures" to any lessee who continues to sublet such "talking motion pictures'to persons, firms or corporations using the same in exhibiting or projecting machines not licensed by the Licensor as aforesaid, or the license for which has been terminated, or who use the said "talking motion pictures" in violation of any of the conditions set forth in Paragraph 15. The Licensor covenants and agrees to promptly notify any such lessee who may so sublet such "talking motion picture" after it has knowledge of any such sub-letting, and to notify the Licensee and the additional licensees of the Licensor of the termination of any license for the use of any exhibiting or projecting machines under the aforesaid Letters Patent, or any of them, and of any such lessee who may so sub-let such motion pictures after being notified by it not to do so; and the Licensor further agrees to compel all such additional licensees to refrain from supplying motion pictures for use with any such exhibiting or projecting machines, the license for which has been so terminated, or to any such lessee. IT. The Licensor and Licensee further mutually covenant and agree that if in any case suit is brought upon said reissued Letters Patent Xos. 12,037 and 12,192, or said Letters Patent Xos. 586,953 or 722,382, either of the claims of said reissued Letters Patent Xo. 12,192 or either of the first, second, or third claims of said reissued Letters Patent No. 12,037, or any of the claims in issue in any such suit upon said Letters Patent Xos. 580,953 or 722,382, is or are held invalid by a court that last hears and decides such suit, or should be held by such court not to be infringed, then, and in any such case, the Licensee may at once terminate this agreement and the license thereby granted, by giving notice of its election so to do bv the Licensor.