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 #:
000116
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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734 Louis Rosenbluh, Recross Examination. 1 A. I should judge about a fair exchange." Did you so answer? A. Yes, sir. Q. Such a question was asked you and you so answered? A. Yes, sir. Q. Now, about that library of yours. Have you got any films on hand that you had when you entered into the arrangements with the Patents Company or the Patents Company licensees? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have 100 or 200 on hand now? A. Yes, sir. Q. A nice little library of those films? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you have over 3,000 films in the place? A. About 3,000. I don't know if it was more or less. Q. You have out to-day about 800 films among your customers? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have about 200 a day in transit that might be said to be in the air? A. Yes, sir. Q. And you have about 2,000 back in the main office? A. Yes, sir. Mr. Grosvenor: Of which you will have to send out 800 to-morrow? 3 The Witness: Well, we may have to send 200 or 300 out, of those. I don't know just how many. Mr. Kingsley: But you are getting a few in tomorrow ? The Witness: Yes, sir. That goes in and out. Mr. Kingsley: That is like pouring it into the barrel wTith one pail and taking it out with another, 4 isn't it? The Witness: Yes, sir. At this point, an adjournment was taken until Friday, February 28th, 1913, at 10:30 A. M. at the Hotel McAlpin.