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 #:
00088
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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706 Louis Rosenbluh, Cross Examination. Q. I didn't ask you that. The agreement was yon could make shipments of old film, a year old? A. They never asked for any. Q. I didn't ask if they asked for it, but I asked yon if that was not the agreement? A. No. Q. I think you stated at page 372 of your direct testimony that your compan}7 does not receive any special features, is that true? Q. Have you read it? A. I have refreshed my memory on that. Will you recall the particular time? Q. You state there : "We did not receive any special features from the manufacturers, although we applied for them." Have you received special features from the manufacturers since September, 1911? A. For a period of time we did not. Q. I didn't ask you that. Please answer my question, have you received special features from manufacturers since September, 1911? Mr. Grosvenor: I object to the question as being confusing for the reason that it is my recollection that the witness testified that these specials, as he called them, began about May, 1912, and that prior to that time specials were given out on regular releases, and that about May, 1912, the term "special" began to be applied to those things that did not go out on regular releases. By Mr. Kingsley: Q. Were you asked this question and did you make this answer, page 373 : "Q. Please describe what a special feature is so that it will appear on the record? A. Up to the period of 1911, special features were termed such pictures as were not among the regular releases of the manufacturers. Anything that they turned out in addition to the regular output, which each one was allotted, or had agreed to turn out, either four or five releases a week, they called special releases." Mr. Grosvenor: Now, on page 373 you will see he says that it started some time in May, that is, I under