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 000517 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 #:
000517
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 12, 2024
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Albert E. Smith, Gross Examination. 1743 Q. You know what they contained? A. I didn't see them, so I don't know what they contained. Q. Now, you testified on Friday in regard to the purpose of the formation of the General Film Company as follows, at page 1700, first : "Q. What was the object and purpose in forming the General Film Company, as you understood it, at the time that it was formed? A. The idea was to form a sort of model exchange, that might serve as an example to all the exchanges then operating." And you also testified in regard to the same subject, at page 1708: UQ. Was it in contemplation, so far as you were concerned, at the time the General Film Company was formed, that the General Film Company would ultimately do practically all the exchange business in the United States ?" And you answered, "No, sir." And then : "Q. Was it in contemplation, so far as you were concerned, or so far as others were concerned with whom you conversed, who were also interested in the formation of the General Film Company, that a large number of exchanges would be operated by the General Film Company?" And you answered, "A. Well, I never understood that was the idea at the start. After many exchanges had been offered to us, everyone knew then that the General Film Company would be larger than they had thought at commencement. " Is there anything you want to add to either of those answers which I have read? A. I cannot think of anything at this moment that I want to add to them. Q. Now, I will read to you from Exhibit 78 of the Petitioner, Volume 1, page 251, being a letter addressed by J. J. Kennedy, President of the General Film Company, to William Pelzer, Secretary, dated January 23rd, 1912, which begins : "Dear Sir : Sometime before the General Film Company was organized, an estimate of the value of the business of exchanges leasing licensed motion pictures, was made by men familiar with the manufacture of motion pictures and also with the business of exchanges. According to this estimate, the value of said business was $3,468,847." Mr. Kennedy was the President of the General Film Company, was he not? A. Yes, sir. Q. And is the same individual who was on the Executive Committee and negotiated the purchases? A. Yes, sir. Q. I call your attention to Petitioner's Exhibit 80, being the minutes of a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the General Film Company, held at 10 Fifth