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 #:
000369
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:
July 25, 2024
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Albert J. Gilligham, Direct Examination. 2219 that is using films later than seven days old, know according to the ages of film that they are receiving; for instance, if a man was using thirty-day film, he can tell thirty days in advance what the nature of these films is going to be, through the trade papers, and also through advance information that is sent out to the exhibitor by the manufacturer in the way of a synopsis of the film story. Q. Accompanied by photographs or cuts of the scenes? A. Invariably accompanied by cuts of the various scenes from the film on the same paper that the synopsis is printed on, and in a great many instances, the manufacturer will send out special advertising matter pertaining to some film that they are going to release, to the exhibitor. Q. Take the case of an exhibitor, a new exhibitor, who is coming to you for service. Explain, will you, just how his program is made up? A. The exhibitor applies to us for service. We inquire what territory, or what town that he is contemplating opening his theatre. He informs us the section of the city or the respective town. We look up our records and find what we are furnishing in that section or city. If our program is all placed with exhibitors in that section or city, we immediately notify this gentleman that we have not got anything open. We will give him a program, but it will have to be films that have been shown by either one or both of the other theatres, and we go further. We offer to give him the pick, ]et him make his own selection, from the forty-two reels, to furnish a program to him. In other instances, where we have films shown in a certain section — for instance, I am supplying, we will say, the Gem Theatre on Grand River Avenue, Detroit, 21 reels. Another man desires to open there, three blocks away. We look up the records and we find that the Gem Theatre is paying us §35 a week. We offer this gentleman as near the same age of service as what we are furnishing his competitor, at the same price. Q. Is it possible for the exhibitors throughout your territory to advertise their program in advance? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do they do it to any extent? A. A large percentage of them do so. Q. Was that possible at a time when two or more licensed exchanges were operating in your territory? A. Xo, sir. Q. Why not? A. For the reason why, that if one exhibitor would happen to advertise a film that he was going to