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 #:
000251
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:
September 21, 2023
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Charles H. Balsley, Direct Examination. 869 We will not grant you permission to violate one of the conditions of your license by making use of the unlicensed and infringing motion pictures referred to in your letter. Yours truly, MOTION PICTURE PATENTS CO., By J. B. JB/ACL By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Were you able to exhibit these pictures in this Imp Theatre at Uniontown? A. No, sir. Q. You may state whether or not there was a theatre, a so called licensed moving picture theatre in the Town of Connellsville? A. Yes, sir. Q. Were you able to exhibit these pictures of the school children in Connellsville, in that theatre at Connellsville? A. No, sir. Q. You may state whether or not you made any efforts to exhibit the films in the theatre at Connellsville. A. Mr. Claybaugh, the manager of the theatre, wanted to put the pictures on, and wrote to the — Mr. Kingsley: I object to what Mr. Claybaugh may have wanted to do. By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. He said he would put them on and was willing to do so, was he? A. Yes, sir. Q. Please state what he did. A. He wrote to the General Film Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, asking them for the privilege of putting these pictures on. They notified him that he could not put them on. Q. Have you made an effort this year also to show those films in the theatre at Connellville? A. Mr. Claybaugh told me several days ago he would put them on any time I wanted, and if they did not like it, they could take his license away.