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 #:
000506
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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1124 Hector J. Streyckmans, Cross Examination. 1 Q, So that at least 18 or 19 were purchased by the Mutual Film Corporation? A. Yes, sir, and the rest of them they started. Q. And the rest you started from the beginning? A. Yes, sir. Q. How many subjects do you release each week now? Mr. Grosvenor : Objected to, as improper cross examination, and I also advise the witness that if he believes that these questions involve matters about which he does not want to testify he does not have to answer. The Witness : I would like to make this explanation : Of course the purchasing of offices, and establishing of offices, is something that is not within my jurisdiction, or not under my control in any way, shape or manner, as an employe of the Mutual. By Mr. Kingsley: Q. And you are simply giving your best recollection? 3 A. My answer is hearsay testimony. Q. You are simply giving your best information about it? A. Yes, sir. Q. There is no secret about it? A. No secret, no. Q. How many subjects does the Mutual Film Corporation release each week? A. We release a programme varying from twenty-one to thirty-five different subjects in the various parts of the country. Q. How many feet of film do these manufacturers allied with the Mutual Film Corporation turn out each week? A. That I do not know of my own knowledge. 4 Q. What is your best information? A. I might have my ideas about it, but then I would rather not tell them. Q. Immediately after the first of January, 1909, you became a competitor of the Patents Company's licensees, did you not, in the motion picture markets of the United States? A. Yes, sir. Q. And since that time, with the exception of the period when you were back in the neAvspaper business, you have