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 000256 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 #:
000256
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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210G Abraham Greenburg, Redirect Examination. ed to give the other a trial to see if I could do anything with it. Q. And that has been the only time you tried to show the independent stuff? A. Yes, sir, the first and the last time. Q. Are those theatres of yours in Camden, the Grand, and the Princess, among the larger theatres in Camden? A. Yes, sir. Q. About all of the larger theatres in Camden are showing the so-called licensed pictures, are they not? A. The larger houses in Camden? Q. Yes. A. There is none larger than mine. Q. You have the two largest, have you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Please state how many persons each of your two theatres accommodate? A. One will hold four hundred, and the other seven hundred. Q. How many different reels a day do you show, Mr. Greenburg? A. I show four reels at the Grand, and five at the Princess. Q. You have a daily change? A. Every day. Redirect examination by Mr. Kingsley : Q. When was it, Mr. Greenburg, that you used the unlicensed service in Chester? A. That has been some six or seven years ago. Q. About seven years ago? A. Yes, sir. Recross examination by Mr. Grosvenor: Q. How long ago? A. About six or seven years ago. Q. Since the Motion Picture Patents Company was organized you have not shown any pictures, except those made by the Patents Company licensees? A. Yes, licensed pictures. Q. Now, what pictures were those that you showed six or Seven years ago? A. That I could not recall now.