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 3
Leaf #:
000197
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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H. N. Marvin, Direct Examination. 1423 marked "Defendants' Exhibit No. 96," and is as follows: Defendants' Exhibit No. 96. MOTION PICTURE PATENTS COMPANY. 80 Fifth Avenue. New York City. April 30, 1009. Lieut. Com. G. H. Holden, Aid & Flag Secretary, 2 Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y. Dear Sir: — Pursuant to the request of the Navy received through you, for a license to use apparatus for the taking of moving pictures and projecting the same, this Company hereby grants such a license under the U. S. patents owned by it, provided such pictures so taken shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of by the Navy, or be used for giving public exhibitions thereof. If this proposed license is accepted under the foregoing 3 terms, please have such acceptance noted by the proper officer on the enclosed copy, which is to be returned to me. Yours very truly, GEORGE F. SCULL, Secretary. The foregoing license is accepted. BEEKMAN WINTHROP, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Date, May 13, 1909. Whereupon, at 4 :15 P. M., on this 16th day of October, 1913, the hearing is adjourned until 10 :30 A. M., on Friday, October 17th, 1913, at the same place.