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 #:
000517
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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William II. Swanson, Cross Examination. 495 When I closed my various businesses up, I did not go to any great amount of trouble in preserving books. Q. Were you purchasing one copy of each release of the Edison licensees at that time? A. I could not say as to that. Very likely I Avas. I was one of the heaviest buyers of films, I guess, in the country. Q. What did you buy in December, 1908? A. I have no knowledge. Q. What did you buy in January, 1909? A. I have not any knowledge of that, either. Q. Without repeating the question again with reference to your other two exchanges, with reference to November, December and January, are you able to state what you purchased for each of those exchanges? A. No, sir, I can answer it in a broad way that before the agreements were entered into between my various businesses and any licensees, either Edison or the Patents Company, that the quantity was lived up to and bought. How much in excess of it, however, I don't know. Q. Did you have any trouble in paying your film bills to the manufacturers from whom you purchased or leased film? A. When? Q. Well, during the months I have referred to, November and December in 1908, and January of 1909? A. Yes, I had — I don't know as to the months, but I know it was just shortly before — I cannot just exactly locate the period of time, but I did have correspondence; either one or two letters to the Biograph Company regarding the payment of a bill. Q. Were you making profits at the rate of f 100,000 a year? A. Very easily. Q. Gross profits? A. Yes, sir. Q. That is, from your combined business? A. Yes, sir. Q Are you in debt at the present time to any of the manufacturers licensed by the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. No, sir. Q. Are you sure about that? A. I think there is one that thinks I oAve him some money. Mr. Selig, I think, thinks I owe him some money, but I do not. After the cancellation took place, there was quite a number of manufacturers, whom I owed for current accounts, who offered to compromise with me, and I refused to compromise on