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 #:
000547
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 H. Swanson, Cross Examination. 525 just described, that you gave the desk and typewriters to Mr. Fichtenberg? A. That occurred one evening in a bantering spirit. I said, "Just give me one dollar or five dollars, and I will give you the whole business." Q. That was at the time of the visit that you have just described? A. Yes, sir. Q. It could not have been a very profitable business down there if you gave it away? A. It surely was, but I had not any partners or any other way of protecting myself, and I was alone in the business, and I could not cover so much territory. I had too many irons in the fire. It certainly was a profitable business. It was nearly all profit. Q. Could not you have sold it? A. Well, I don't know. I did not try to sell it. Q. Just gave it away? A. Yes, sir. Q. In a spirit of gratitude? A. Not a spirit of gratitude. No, sir. I had nothing to be grateful for. Q. Well, a spirit of liberality, I mean? A. That is better. Q. If I were to tell you that Mr. Fichtenberg wrote a letter to the Patents Company in March, 1909, that you were not connected with the exchange any more, would that assist you in fixing the date when you made this magnanimous gift to Mr. Fichtenberg? A. Well, it would not fix anything. It would just simply prove Mr. Fichtenberg trying to clear his skirts of any connection with me, thinking it would have an ill effect on his business in New Orleans, after the Patents Company had cancelled me in Chicago, Omaha and St. Louis — it is a misstatement of the facts on his part, however, for the reason that I was at that time Vice-President of the company. He has not told the truth when he wrote that letter, although my interest was nothing but one share of stock. Q. Then when you gave it away, you had not any interest in it at all? A. Just the one share in order to hold the corporate name for him. It was an Illinois corporation. Q. Now, Mr. Swanson, take the months of November and December, when your gross receipts were so enormous. That is, enormous from my point of view. Mr. Grosvenor: In the year 1908? Mr. Willis: In the year 1908.