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)

Page scan 000576 from 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 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 #:
000576
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:
September 12, 2024
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550 William Pelzer, Direct Examination. jour company? A. I cannot give you details without figures in front of ine. Q. You are the Treasurer of the company? A. Yes, sir. Q. Are you not able to give any approximate figure showing what the profits, or stating what the profits were for that year? A. I do not think that I am capable of carrying the figures of my books in my head, and of quoting those figures to you, Mr. Grosvenor. Q. I do not ask you for the figures stated accurately — I said are you able to give approximately what the net profits for the year 1912, were? A. I told you I could not, Mr. Grosvenor. Q. Do you know whether they were one thousand dollars or ten million dollars? A. No, sir, I do not. Q. Or whether they were 13,000,000? A. No, sir. Mr. Caldwell: This line of questioning is objected to on the ground that the witness has repeatedly stated that the books for 1912 have not yet been closed. Q. Don't you as Treasurer make up from time to time statements showing what the profits of your company are as shown by the books as of a certain date? A. I have not been Treasurer long enough, Mr. Grosvenor, to do it. Q. What? A. I have not been Treasurer long enough to do that. Q. Don't you know whether or not any statements are made up from time to time in the company's office? A. I believe they are, roughly. Q. Well, now, what I want is a rough statement of what the figures were for the year 1912? A. No such statement has been made that I have seen since I have occupied the office and no attempt has been made to get it because the figures when prepared will give that. Q. Do yon mean to say that you, as Treasurer, have no idea as to what the profits of your company are for a year, or any period of a year, until the books are closed for that year? A. If I had been Treasurer over a longer period I might be able to give you a more definite answer, but T have only been Treasurer since December the 10th. Q. Since December 16th, 1912? A. Yes, sir.