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 #:
000465
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:
June 13, 2024
Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Edgar Thorp, Direct Examination. 1083 Q. Well, I ain not speaking of the source of supply. But is there a demand on the part of the people who visit your shows to see what are known as special features? A. There is. Q. Were films entitled "The Burning of Rome" ami the "Coronation of King George and Queen Mary," two of the special features which were being displayed in theatres around the country in July and August, 1911? A. Yes, sir. Q. Please look at the four letters I show you, and read them to refresh your recollection (handing papers to witness) . A. (witness examines papers). Q. Are these letters which you received from the General Film Company and the Motion Picture Patents Company, and also your reply to a letter of the General Film Company, on the dates stated in the letters? A. They are. Mr. Grosvenor: I offer them in evidence. The papers identified by the witness are marked respectively Petitioner's Exhibit No. 198, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 199, Petitioner's Exhibit Xo. 200, and Petitioner's Exhibit No. 201 ; and the same are as follows : Petitioner's Exhibit No. 198. GENERAL FILM COMPANY. Licensees of Motion Picture Patents Co. MOVING PICTURE MACHINES. (Part of letterhead omitted.) Pittsburgh, Pa., August 9, 1911. Mr. Edgar Thorp, Franklin, Pa. Dear Sir: — We have been advised that the Orpheum Theatre, Titusville. Pa., exhibited "The Burning of Rome'' and "The Coronation of King George and Queen Mary" on July 20th. Neither of these films was secured from this exchange,