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 #:
000552
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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530 William H. Swanson, Cross Examination. Q. And that was prior to 1908, wasn't it? A. Well, I would not say prior to 1908. That condition was in 1908 also. Q. How late in 1908? A. Well, up until about the organization of the Film Service Association. Q. When was that? A. The organization was effected some time in 1908. Q. Well, when? A. I cannot state the date. Q. You wrote the by-laws, didn't you? A Oh, that covered a period of six months before its real organization. Q. Can't you tell when it was organized? You were President of it, for a time? A. I cannot fix dates as readily, owing to the fact that my different businesses called me all over the United States, and therefore I cannot fix dates like a man that does not go all around very often. That would be the only way that I could identify the period of time; it was by the fact that I happened to be in a certain city at a certain time, and that I cannot remember. Q. You were very actively engaged in your own business and liable to forget? A. I consider myself a very busy man, Mr. Willis, and always have been, and I try to forget as many small trifles, the details, ;is possible, in order that I may retain more important ones. Q. And you are quite successful in forgetting, I suppose? A. Not necessarily. I am very successful in forgetting trifles. Mr. Grosvenor: I can give the date if counsel wants it. It was about February, 1908. Mr. Willis: I think I have it. I am very much obliged to you. Mr. Grosvenor: Did you require it for testing the memory of the witness? I did not mean io interrupt you. I did not think you were testing the memory of the witness. Mr. AVillis : The witness could not recollect. A. I was trying to give Mi-. AVillis an answer as to the elimination of that condition. That did not necessarily mean that just the meeting and formation of the Film Service Association rectified that. The rectification of that did not occur until these Edison licenses were signed, and as to what