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)

Page scan 000429 from 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 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 #:
000429
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:
September 12, 2024
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John Hardin, Direct Examination. 1655 Q. What projecting machines are advertised in that catalogue? A. There, on pages 8 and 9, is the Edison Projecting Kinetoscope, Underwriters' Model. Q. And what is on page 9? A. Eight has the illustration and 9 has the description. The same machine on both pages. Q. What other machine is there there? A. On pages 10 and 11 is the Improved Exhibition Model. Q. Will you describe these two machines and state wherein they differ from the Exhibition Model which you have just referred to, and which was set out in the catalogue of February 1st, 1907, beginning with the Edison Projecting Kinetoscope, Improved Exhibition Model? A. The first machine we described was $115, the next one was $135, which had film magazines added to it, making the difference in price, and this next one has the upper and lower magazines, and a film gate, automatic film gate, and a different rheostat from the other machine. Listing at ¥155. Q. By "filni gate," do you mean a fire shutter? A. What we call a fire shutter. A fire shutter to cut off the light from the film, automatically, when the machine stops. Q. That is something new, or was at that time? A. It was new on that. It was not in the previous model machine. Q. And what is the difference in price between the Exhibition Model and the one in the catalogue of February 1st, 1907? A. The February 1st, 1907, was $135, and this one was $155. Q. You spoke of an Underwriters' Model set out in this catalogue. A. That is the machine on pages 8 and 9 in this catalogue, which was listed at $175. Q. How does that differ from the Exhibition Model which you have just described? A. It has the upper and lower magazines, the automatic fire shutter, a different rheostat, and has the covered knife switch and adjustable legs and flanges for the machine to stand on, which the other did not have. Q. In other words, it is a new model of projecting machine? A. It is an improvement on the other model. Improvements added to it. Q. Is the Universal Model set out in that catalogue? A. Yes, sir.