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 #:
000570
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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518 William Pelzer, Direct Examination. dated December 28th, 1912, signed by George F. Scull, Vice-President, for the Motion Picture Patents Company, and by J. J. Kennedy, president of the Kinetograph Company, and the witness having stated that this is identical with Exhibit 4, attached to the petition, the paper is returned to the witness and need not be copied into the record. I also offer in evidence as Petitioner's Exhibit No. 131, the statement entitled "Statement of Undivided Net Profits Credited After Payment of Dividends on Preferred and Common Stock, December 30, 1911." I also offer in evidence as Petitioner's Exhibit No. 132, the statement entitled "Distribution of Undivided Net Profits for the years 1910 and 1911, Credited After Payment of Dividends on Preferred and Common Stock, on Basis of Feet of Film Leased from Licensed Manufacturers."