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 00093 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 #:
00093
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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William F. Kertsciier, Cross Examination. 1943 uct, and asking yon to call upon yonr exchange to include it in your program? A. They do. Q. What projecting machine do you use? A. Powers machine. Cross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Do you use special features at your theatres? A. I do. Q. And are those an important part of the program which you give? A. You say, is that an important part? Q. Yes. A. Very important. Q. It is one of the things which particularly helps you to draw your customers? A. It does. Q. How long have you been a licensed exhibitor? A. Ever since I have been in the business. That is about four years. Q. And you have confined your exhibitions to pictures made by the licensed manufacturers? A. Yes. Q. And you consider that the licensed manufacturers make the best pictures that are made? A. I do. Q. All the pictures which you exhibit are not first run, are they? A. They are not. Q. Y^ou may show a picture quite a number of days after it was first shown by somebody else? A. Yes. Q. You advertise that you are going to show other pictures besides first-run pictures, don't you? A. I do, yes. Redirect examination by Mr. Kingsley : Q. Do you find that prices have increased since the General Film Company went into business? A. No. Prices are practically the same. Q. Do the unlicensed exchanges solicit you for your business? A. They do. Often. Q. Do the unlicensed exchanges offer you a complete program? A. They do. Q. Is there more than one complete program offered to exhibitors by the unlicensed exchanges? A. What do you mean? Q. Well, is there more than one program available of unlicensed film? A. Is there more than one program of unlicensed film? I don't quite grasp that. 1