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 #:
000547
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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Michael Lessy, Direct Examination. 11G5 minate all our exchange license agreements with you on the fifteenth day of March, 1909. Yours very truly, MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY, By D. Macdonald, General Manager. DM/H. By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Mr. Lessy, this exhibit (No. 214), dated February 26th, 1909, states that your license agreement will be terminated March 15th, 1909. I show you a letter, dated February 27th, 1909, on the letterhead of the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. Please look at that, and state whether that was a letter received by you about the time stated on the letter from the Biograph Company? A. Yes, sir; this was a letter received the following day, notifying us that they are not shipping any more films. Mr. Grosvenor: I offer it. The paper referred to was marked by the Examiner, Petitioner's Exhibit No. 215, and is as follows : Petitioner's Exhibit No. 215. AMERICAN MUTOSCOPE AND BIOGRAPH COMPANY 11 E. Fourteenth St., New York, N. Y. February 27th, 1909. Philadelphia Film Exchange, 1229 North Seventh St., Philadelphia, Pa. Gentlemen : — We beg to advise that owing to the cancellation of your license agreement by the Motion Picture Patents Company, we are not forwarding you films of our Monday's release or future issues. Very truly yon is, AMERICAN MUTOSCOPE & BIOGRAPH CO. J. V. W.— D. W.