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 #:
000553
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. 531 that date was, I have no recollection. It is all a matter of record, however. Q. Are you a member of the Republican Club in New York? A. No, sir. Q. I believe you testified that you stayed with Mr. Spoor and Mr. Selig and Mr. Kleine a couple of nights there? A. I was there at the invitation of Mr. Kleine, who, I believe, was a member, as he about that time, or later gave me a card of introduction to the club. Q. Yes. That is right. You stated you all three slept in the same room? A. That was a slight mistake. Mr. Kleine did not sleep in that room, but Mr. Spoor and Mr. Selig did. Mr. Spoor later on retired to another room, of his own, or with Mr. Kleine. Mr. Selig remained with me all the time that Mr. Selig was at the Republican Club with me. Q. Now, isn't it a fact that Mr. Spoor met you in New York, and invited you to come over, and took you over to the Republican Club and got you a room in the back part of the building by yourself? A. Mr. Spoor did not take me over at all. Q. Mr. Kleine? A. No, it was not necessary. I was registered and had been for some considerable time at the Imperial Hotel. He did not need to do me any favor in doing so. They did it for their own purposes. My room rent went on just the same at the hotel where I was stopping. Q. It was not a question of economy. Didn't he give you a room over at the Republican Club? A. No. When I got so worn out, and after they had accomplished their purposes in securing a promise from me, after loading up on a great deal of wine I laid down some place. I don't know where it was. I don't believe either one of the other gentlemen remembered what room they slept in either. Q. Didn't you continue your Chicago Exchange after your license had been cancelled by the Patents Company? A. Yes, indeed. I tried to continue it and succeeded for a time. Q. And continued your theatrical business, as yon have described it? A. No, I had to sell those out. Q. What did you sell out? A. The theatres. Q. Bought them back again? A. No, sir. Q. I thought you said you were operating them now? A. 1 said I am operating some theatres in the West. West of the Mississippi. Chicago is this side of the Mississippi River. Q. I am afraid you do not understand my question. You