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)

Page scan 000395 from 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 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 #:
000395
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:
September 12, 2024
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Thomas H. Bates, Cuoss Examination. 1013 await your answer before presenting the case to the U. S. Attorney General. Respt yours, Thos. H. Bates, 133 Moreland St., Roxbury, Mass. ( Stamped : Received 1911 Oct 16 A M 8:54 Ans. H. N. M. 10/20/11 M M) File, J. B. By Mr. Kingsley : Q. I show you a letter dated August 16, 1912, and I ask you if your signature appears at the bottom, and if you sent that letter to the Motion Picture Patents Company? A. I did; I wrote this letter. The Witness: Yes, sir. The Attorney General has got copies of all those letters. Mr. Kingsley: I offer it in evidence. The paper offered in evidence by counsel for defendants was marked by the Examiner "Defendants' Exhibit No. 15," and is as follows: Defendants' Exhibit No. 15. 139 Roxbury Street, Roxbury, Mass. August 16, 1912. To the Motion Pictures Patents Company, New York, N. Y. Gentlemen : I notice that the United States Government has at last declared against your unjust and selfish monopoly. I have suffered, and my children have suffered on account of the very arbitrary and cold blooded manner of your local agent here, in Boston, Mr. Marston, through whom T have been 4