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 #:
000432
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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1050 A. J. Clapham, Cross Examination. If you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of these two reels in question, I could probably convince you of the truthfulness of the above report by a willingness to begin replevin suit for the recovery of these reels, as we have been considering them as stolen property. I would like to take this opportunity of advising you that since I purchased the Theatre Film Service Company interest in June last, there has not been any violation of the license agreement, and in view of the fact that I was fully aware that unscrupulous competition in this city was ever on the alert to register a kick, I have been extraordinarily careful to warn all employes that they must not violate any of the conditions of the Patents Company. If you will search your files during the early part of last year, you will locate letters from me in which I was protesting against certain exchanges here disseminating information throughout the state to the effect that the Theatre Film Service Company's license would be cancelled. The fact that we are the newest comers in the film-renting field here has made them consider us as interlopers, and their reasons for objecting to our presence in the field are plain. I am entirely willing at all times to furnish you any information regarding any alleged violations of our contract, as it is far more gratifying to me to clear up misunderstandings of this kind, than to have them go unexplained. I would like to call your attention to the following facts, namely : that since I purchased the interest of my associates last June in the Theatre Film Service Company, our film purchases have increased one hundred per cent, in seven months. The fact that we are making such strides is due to the manner in which we are handling our business here, and you can readily understand that we could not afford to make these increases unless our business warranted same, and while last June we were purchasing but six reels of film per week, our standing order now amounts to twelve reels, we having increased it on the first of February. We are not resorting to dishonest methods nor price-cutting to obtain business; in fact, I believe we are obtaining better rates for our service than any exchange in the city. The class of theatres which we are supplying in this city are the leading ones.