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 #:
00087
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 21, 2023
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George Cohen, Cross Examination. 1937 Q. Do they come to see you frequently? A. Yes sir, 1 every day an agent conies. Q. Do they offer you inducements to take their service? A. All sorts. Q. Do they tell you that they have a better service? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they tell you the prices are more favorable? A. They don't say they have a better service, but that it is as good. Q. Do they tell you the prices are as favorable? A. They make concessions, or try to, yes. 9 Q. What projecting machine do you use in your various houses? A. A Powers. Q. Do you use a Powers in all of them? A. Yes, sir. Q. Have you used any other projecting machine than the Powers since you have been in the motion picture business? A. I used an Edison once. Q. Did you say that the price of admission to your various houses was five cents? A. Except to the vaudeville houses, it is five cents. Q. Have you been familiar with the prices of motion pictures to the exhibitors since you have been in the business? 3 A. Yes, sir. Q. How do the prices of to-day compare with the prices that prevailed before the formation of the General Film Company? Are they lower or higher? A. Why, I don't know of any difference as far as my service is concerned. Q. You find that the price is substantially the same? A. Considering the service, it is. The service is superior now, and the price no higher to me. Q. You say the competitor with whom you waged lively competition quit. Do you mean by that that he went out 4 of business, sold out? A. Some went out of business, some sold out, and some went to the independent, or used pictures that did not conflict with my service. Q. That is, some of them gave up the use of the licensed service? A. Yes, sir. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor : Q. Mr. Cohen, are special features an important part of the program of your various theatres? A. Yes, sir.