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 #:
000497
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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Albert E. Smith, Direct Examination. 1723 the policy that we would have advised him to adopt, with the consequence that the Melies Company's business is now down to zero. Mr. Grosvenor: I object to all this last answer as while no doubt a high testimonial to the witness' ability, it has no bearing upon the issues of this case. The Witness : The witness' ability is known in the trade, sir. By Mr. Kingsley : Q. Has the Vitagraph Company made large additional investments in its plant in the last few years? A. Yes. We have increased and developed our plant, so that now it has a capacity of ten times — at least ten times the amount of the output at the time we took the license from the Edison Company. Q. Do you keep a large company of actors at the studio? A. Our stock company runs up close to 150 members. Q. Do you keep them there most of the time? A. Practically all of the time. Q. Do you know whether the importations of the foreign motion pictures have fallen off since the first of January, 1908, in the aggregate? A. Yes, sir; they have. Q. Do you know to what extent they have fallen off? A. I could not give the figures in round numbers, but I do know that at the time you mention, the Pathe Company sold probably three or four times the amount of film that the Vitagraph Company sold or leased, and that now the Vitagraph Company leases in this country and abroad considerably more than does the Pathe Company. Q. Do you know whether the Pathe Company's aggregate importations have fallen off or stood still? A. Mr. Berst has told me several times that the demand for their foreign product has fallen off considerably, and on this account he established a studio in this country and made films here. Q. In 1908, were you exporting any considerable quantity of motion pictures? A. A relatively small amount of our product. Q. Siuee that time have you increased importation? A. Since that time our capacity abroad lias increased so that