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 #:
000623
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. 134, Agt. Edison & Eastman Kodak Cos. 597 the statements so made to it by the Eastman Company, it 1 may have such examination made of the books of account of the Eastman Company so far as the same may relate to the sale by it of film to the "Patents Company licensees" and all other persons, firms and corporations, except ex-licensees and non-licensed "foreign manufacturers" hereinbefore referred to by the public accountants, Price, Waterhouse & Company, of New York, N. Y., or any other public accountants that may hereafter be agreed upon by the Patents Company and the Eastman Company. 21. It is further mutually covenanted and agreed by and 2 between the Patents Company and the Eastman Company that nothing herein contained shall interfere with or prevent the manufacture, sale or shipment, for export, by the Eastman Company, of sensitized non-inflammable motion picture film suitable for the commercial production of negative or positive motion pictures, without the payment of any royalty or other consideration therefor to the Patents Company, when such film addressed to the foreign purchaser, agent or consignee, is delivered to a vessel or to a transportation company for transportation to a foreign country, and not otherwise. The Eastman Company covenants and agrees that it will use all reasonable efforts to prevent the reimportation of any such film sold for export, into the United States in an unexposed condition and that it will not sell any such film for export for the purpose of reimporting it into the United States in an unexposed condition. 22. The Patents Company further covenants and agrees that it will, during the continuance of this agreement, license such a number of persons, firms and corporations, under said letters patent Nos. 578,185, 580,719, 580,953, 588,910, 073,329, 073,992, 707,931, 722,382, 711,251, 770,937, 771,280 785,205 and 785,237, to make1 and sell exhibiting or projecting machines containing the inventions described and claimed in the same capable of exhibiting or projecting motion pictures on film of a width greater than approximately one (1) inch, and also such machines as will not be capable of exhibiting or projecting motion pictures on film of a greater width than approximately one (1) inch, as will be able to supply the demand for the same. The Patents Company further covenants and agrees that