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 2
Leaf #:
00059
Language:
English
Collection:
Early Cinema and Government & Law
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:
June 13, 2024
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William Fox, Direct Examination. 677 it, and we are going to monopolize it. And you have got to get out of the way." I said, "Mr. Berst, I cannot see your theory at all. The little business that I do is so small compared to the amount of business that is done in film rental in America, that really I should not be an annoyance to you." He said, "Now, Fox, look here" — I said, "Besides, Mr. Berst you are such a busy manufacturer that you cannot know what is going on, and this must be a lot of conversation reported to you that I am in the way." He said, "Fox, I am an executive man of the General Film Company, and these matters are brought to me from time to time," and he said, "I have it put before me every day of the week that our customers cannot be advanced in price because of this, we know they are going to become customers of the Greater New York Film Rental Company. Now, we want to advance our prices, and we want to get more money for our merchandise, and we cannot do it because you are in our way. Now, we are not going to continue that way any longer. You have done it long enough. You have been a stumbling block of our raising the prices and serving the film as we see fit, and every time we tried to raise the price or did not give a man a reel of film that he thought he ought to have, he simply went to you, and we want to stop that condition and we don't want you around any more." He said, "I realize it is only a few days more left between now and the expiration of your license. I am willing to help you get the money, get you some money for your plant. You have had all your profits for the past couple of years. You say your plant has made all that money. Suppose we had put you out of business two years ago, you would not have had that profit. Figure that profit with what we are giving you now, and see if we are not giving you a good liberal price." I said, "I am awfully obliged to you. I am a thousand times obliged to you for your having let us exist until now. I realize you could have thrown us out in the street the same as the others. But if you say we cannot have our license reinstated, do the best you can, and give me the best price you possibly can." He said, "Let me have a talk with Kennedy. After I have had a talk, we will probably send for you, and everything will be all right." With that I left him. Mr. Grosvenor, I am giving you the conversation, both with Mr. Kennedy — with the three, with Mr. Kennedy, with