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 4
Leaf #:
00086
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 25, 2024
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1936 George Cohen, Direct Examination. business. Men who have travelled throughout the entire world attend my picture houses, five-cent theatres, and they are not ashamed to be seen going in there. A certain Dr. Patterson in Poughkeepsie, one of the leading dentists of this country, told me last Sunday night that he had been ashamed to be seen going to picture shows in this country, and only attended picture shows where he was not known, abroad, but, that in the last few months he had been visiting my places of business, and that he was glad to admit that it is all right. Q. My question was directed more particularly to the quality of the pictures that you are now showing? A. Regarding the subjects, or mechanically? Q. Regarding the subjects and the mechanical perfection? A. They are by far better than they ever were. Q. Do you find that the various producers of motion pictures who make licensed pictures are competing with each other for the favor of the exhibitor? A. Oh, yes. Q. Do they send you advertisements and circulars from day to day? A. Constantly. Q. Do they call attention to the merits of their new productions? A. By personal letters. Q. Do they try to get you to demand of the exchanges their particular productions? A. I complained to one company that I couldn't get their productions and they wrote a letter to the General Film Company asking why it was, and demanding that I be served with them. That was the Kalem Company. Q. What has been your experience with foreign films? A. A detriment to the moving picture business. Q. What was the character of foreign films four or five years ago? A. Horrible, immoral. Q. Have they improved somewhat since? A. Not that I have seen of late. Q. Do you require a smaller or larger proportion of foreign pictures than you did four or five years ago? A. My order is not to show any foreign pictures in any of my theatres — none. Q. Did you ever feel, Mr. Cohen, or were you ever given to understand that you were obliged to get your pictures from the General Film Company? A. No. Q. Do you find that the unlicensed exchanges are seeking the business of exhibitors? A. Oh, yes, very much.