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 #:
000245
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:
September 21, 2023
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J. A. Sciiuchert, Cross Examination. 2095 Q. These cash payments ran over a period of five years from July, 1910? A. Yes. Q. Did you get interest on those deferred payments? A. Yes. Q. Then, when the General Film Company acquired those three exchanges on that day — Mr. Caldwell: Those two exchanges. He has only testified to two. Mr. Grosvenor: He has testified to three. Mr. Caldwell: Rochester and Buffalo. Mr. Grosvenor : He has given the Pittsburgh Calcium Light, the Buffalo Film Exchange, and the Motion Picture Supply Company. Mr. Caldwell: He had no interest in the Pittsburgh exchange. By Mr. Grosvenor: Q. Those three were all acquired on the same day? A. The Buffalo and the Rochester branch of the Pittsburgh Calcium, the Motion Picture Supply Company being the last, which I had no interest, in. Q. Those three were acquired on the same day? A. One day. Mr. Caldwell: But not part of the same deal. The Witness: No, sir. By Mr. GROSVENOR : Q. Did the motion picture exchange man come down with you? A. He was in the office at Xo. 10 Fifth Avenue in the morning, when we got there. Q. Did he leave before the subject of buying you up was taken up? A. We went into Mr. Kennedy's office and made our deal, and came down and went away. Q. Leaving him there? A. Leaving him there. Q. You subsequently learned that his company was purchased, too? A. Yes. Q. Well, as a result, the General Film Company acquired on that day all the licensed exchanges at Buffalo and at Rochester? A. Yes, sir.