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 #:
000502
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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1120 Hector J. Streyckmans, Cross Examination. 1 over to the hearing. I find that this book, or pamphlet, has not been offered in evidence. Mr. Kingsley: No, it is marked for identification. Thereupon HECTOR J. STREYCKMANS resumed the stand. Cross examination by Mr. Kingsley : Q. What was your business in the early part of 1909, January and February of that year? A. Well, it was ad 2 vertising at that time. In January I began the organization of a company, called "International Projecting and Producing Company." I was with the Show World, and I did not resign from the Show World until the latter part of January. Q. What did you call it? A. International Projecting and Producing Company. Q. What was the International Projecting and Producing Company? A. The International Projecting & Producing Company was a company organized for the purpose of importing European films, and selling them in this country. Q. And this, of course, was a company which did not deal 3 in licensed motion pictures? A. No, sir, did not deal in licensed films. Q. Were you an officer of that company? A. I was the secretary and manager. Q. At what time did your company begin active business? A. As fast as we could get films over here from the other side. Q. And how soon was that after the first of January, 1909? A. I got my contracts in January, and in the first part of February, and I made the first release on March 22nd, if I remember correctly. 4 Q. How many motion pictures did you release on that day? A. Three hundred reels a week. Q. And how many subjects did those 300 reels per week comprise? A. Well, some of them had two subjects on them. It would be very hard to approximate that. Q. Do you mean 300 separate subjects? A. Three hundred thousand feet would be more explicit, 300 reels of a thousand feet each, upon some of which reels were two subjects at times. Q. You don't mean by that, that you had 300 subjects?