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 #:
000585
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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Gov't Ex. 133, Agt. Edison & Eastman Kodak Cos. 559 is the owner of all tbe right, title and interest in and to United States Letters Patent: — No. 578,185, dated March 2, 1897, for Vitascope, granted Thomas Armat; No. 580,749, dated April 13, 1897, for Vitascope, granted Thomas Armat; No. 586,953, dated July 20, 1897, for Phantascope, granted Charles F. Jenkins and Thomas Armat ; No. 588,916, dated August 24, 1897, for Kinetoscope, granted Charles M. Campbell as assignee of Willard G. Steward and Ellis F. Frost; No. 629,063, dated July 18, 1899, for Kinetoscopic Camera, granted American Mutoscope Company as assignee of Herman Casler; No. 673,329, dated April 30, 1901, for Kinetoscope, granted The American Vitagraph Company as assignee of Albert E. Smith; No. 673,992, dated May 14, 1901, for Vitascope, granted Thomas Armat; No. 707,934, dated August 26, 1902, for Projecting Kinetoscope, granted E. & EL T. Anthony as assignees of Woodville Latham; No. 722,382, dated March 10, 1903, for Animated Picture Apparatus, granted to American Mutoscope & Biograph Company as assignee of John A. Pross ; No. 744,251, dated November 17, 1903, for Kinetoscope, granted Albert E. Smith; No. 770,937, dated September 27, 1904, for Kinetoscope, granted The Vitagraph Company of America as assignee of Albert E. Smith; No. 771,280, dated October 4, 1904, for Winding Reel, granted Albert E. Smith; No. 785,205, dated March 21, 1905, for Flame-Shield for Kinetoscopes, granted The Vitagraph Company of America as assignee of William Ellwood, and No. 785,237, dated March 21, 1905, for Film-Holder for Kinetoscopes, granted The Vitagraph Company of America as assignee of Albert E. Smith;