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 000515 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 #:
000515
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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William EL Swanson, Cross Examination. 193 any one month in 1907. I spent many thousands of dollars putting in systems and spent twice as much taking it out, so that it was in a confused state all the time. Q. What kind of merchandise business were you in? A. The buying and selling of carbons, condensers, lenses, tickets, supplies of various kinds, blueprints for theatres, seats, decorations for theatres, organs, pianos, phonographs, and such as that. Q. The moving picture exchange business was a sort of a by-product of yours then? A. No, sir; that was the principal business of the exchange, but, unlike the Eastern men, the Western men carried a full line of everything in connection with the business in a film exchange, for the reason that it is more of a mail order business in the WTest than it is in the East. Q. So you are unable to tell me how much you made during the years 1907 and 1908, out of your commercial enterprise, and what you made out of your film exchange enterprise? A. I am unable to give you — Q. (Interrupting) : And by "made" I mean gross receipts. A. It would be — I certainly could not give it to you from my memory. It perhaps might be accomplished by going over all my old books that I still have preserved. Q. I understood you to say that notwithstanding you employed expensive and modern devices, that you were unable to discriminate — A. (Interrupting) : To determine satisfactorily, yes, sir. Q. So that even with your books, you could not do it, could you? A. I say it might be possible to arrive at it approximately, but nothing accurate. Q. Where are your books? A. In Chicago, some in St. Louis, some in New Orleans — Q. (Interrupting) : Do you object to presenting them? A. Not at all. Q. Will you do it? A. I don't know how I will gather them up. If you will suggest how, I can do that. Q. It is not my property. Probably, if it was, I could. A. Weil, I have not any inclination to run up there and get them at my own expense. Q. I suppose, you then decline to produce them? A. Yes, if it is any trouble or inconvenience to me, I will, certainly. Q. Now, approximately, what did you purchase, of mo