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 #:
000594
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:
July 11, 2024
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1820 Nathan Machat, Direct Examination. Yes, sir. We issue a program in our theatre, and in that, we give the program for one week and sometimes two weeks in advance. Q. Before the General Film Company was organized, could you go to an exchange and select pictures in advance for a program? A. Well, if I found them in the place, I guess I could have got them if somebody was not ahead of me. Q. Since the organization of the General Film Company, have you been able to select pictures in advance? A. I have been able to request for some pictures, and I get them at the day that I want, if they are not taken by somebody else. Then I get them a day or two later. Q. Do you generally get the pictures you want when you make a request? A. Yes, I get everything I want. Q. Do you frequently make a request? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you find that that request is complied with, if possible? A. Yes, in most cases. Q. Before the General Film Company was formed, did you know of any theatres that were owned by exchanges, or by the proprietors of exchanges? A. Yes, sir, I knew several of them. Q. By that I mean motion picture theatres. A. Yes, sir. Q. What ones do you have in mind at this moment? A. William Fox owned the majority of them that I know of. Q. Did you ever come in competition with any of the theatres that were owned by Mr. William Fox? A. Well, I think on Broadway, Brooklyn, I did. Q. What was the character of the service that this competing theatre was giving at that time? A. They have used everything that was new. At that time I was taking service at the same place, and I was getting what I paid for, or I was not getting what I paid for; in fact, they had no age at all. Q. That is, your program was made up without regard to your wishes by the Greater New York Film Rental Company? A. My program was made up by one of the young men in the Greater New York Film Rental Company, whicli did not favor me very much, being as I could not come up with it. Q. Being as what? A. Being as I could not come up with the dough. lie told me deliberately one day that he