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 #:
000250
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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2100 Abraham Grbenburg, Direct Examination. Thereupon, ABRAHAM GREENBURG, the next witness produced by defendants, of lawful age, being first duly sworn by the Examiner, deposed as follows: Direct examination by Mr. Kingsley: Q. Where do you live, Mr. Greenburg? A. Camden, New Jersey. Q. In what business are you engaged? A. I am in the exhibiting business, exhibiting motion pictures. Q. How long have you been an exhibitor of motion pictures? A. I should judge since about 1904 or 1905, along in there. I don't remember the exact date. Q. Have you been located during those six years at Camden, New Jersey? A. No. I had a house, previous to the Camden house, at Asbury Park, and one at Chester, Pennsylvania. Q. What house, or houses, have you in Camden, New Jersey? A. The Grand and the Princess. Q. What are the seating capacities of those houses? A. One has four hundred seats, and the other seven hundred seats. Q. How long have you had the Princess, in Camden? A. The Grand will be two years old this coming March, and the Princess I erected last April. Q. Do you own any other theatres? A. I have an interest in the Chester house. Q. How long have you been interested in the Chester house? A. Well, about nine years; between eight and nine years. Q. Since 1907 have you been continuously engaged in the business of exhibiting motion pictures? A. I have. Q. During that time have you been familiar with the prices of the motion picture service? A. Well, that is, with my own. I have not, about anybody else's. Q. But have you known in a general way about the character of the motion picture service since 1907, supplied by the licensed rental exchanges, and the unlicensed rental exchanges? A. Well, I don't know anything any more than about my own. Q. Are you exhibiting licensed motion pictures in your houses at present? A. Yes, sir. Q. From what rental exchange are you taking licensed