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 00046 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 4
Leaf #:
00046
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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1896 William A. Landau, Direct Examination. Q. Did you have any experience before the formation of the General Film Company as to whether service was reliable or unreliable? A. Very unreliable. Q. Would exchanges promise you service and subsequently neglect to give it to you? A. I could not get what I was promised. Q. Did you ever feel that you were paying for something that you did not get? A. Exactly. Q. Did you ever have any dealings with Marcus Loew's Exchange before he sold it to the General Eilm Company? A. That was my first exchange that I commenced to do business with when I opened up. Q. Was Marcus Loew interested in any theatres at that time? A. He was. Q. Did you have any occasion to notice whether the Loew Exchange favored Marcus Loew's theatres with respect to service? A. Well, as much as I could see at the time in that very vicinity where Marcus Loew had a theatre, you could not get certain films at a certain age, because his own theatres were favored from that very exchange that I was doing business with. Q. His own theatres got the service? A. Prior to anybody else. Q. Have you been familiar with the prices of service to exhibitors for some years? A. Yes, sir. Q. What do you say as to whether prices have increased or diminished since the General Film Company has been in business? A. Well, in my estimation, the service that they have been in the habit of getting has very greatly advanced. Q. Do you think it is practically the same in price? A. Almost. Almost the same; in fact, cheaper, if I may state, because you are getting more films, you are getting a better service practically for the same amount that you used to get years ago. Q. Does the General Film Company now release more pictures or fewer pictures than it formerly did? A. More than ever. Q. Do you find that the service has improved or fallen off since the General Film Company went into business? A. It lias considerably improved. Q. Have you ever felt that you were obliged to take the